Thunderstruck
by Uchiha ninja
Summary: Yet another Harry is thrown into Azkaban fic. He discovers he is descended from Cloud Strife! Mega crossover. Final Fantasy VII, W.I.T.C.H., Code Lyoko, Juniper Lee, among others. Self insert too. Dumbledore, Ron, and Ginny bashing.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: No, I do not own Harry Potter, W.I.T.C.H., Final Fantasy 7, Final Fantasy 7 Advent Children, Code Lyoko, Ben 10, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, American Dragon Jake Long, My Life As a Teenage Robot, Shadowrun RPG, Starship Troopers RPG, Dungeons & Dragons, various D20 sources, any of the characters therein, or whatever else the reader may recognize as coming from a TV show, movie, book, video game, or music video. This story is meant as an uber crossover. It is written for the enjoyment of others and to get this creative monkey off my frikken back that has been plaguing me for the past three months! So please, whoever you are, don't sue me. I have no money anyway. SHOOT ME! SHOOT ME NOW! This is also going to be a self insert. Don't like it, don't read it!

Warning: The following story contains graphic descriptions of torture, mutilation, intense violence, and maybe some sexuality, I haven't decided yet. For safety's sake this fic is rated M.

**Thunderstruck: Chapter 1**

He sat alone in the dark and the near silence. The only sounds that reached his ears were those of dripping water, the occasional scream of a fellow prisoner, and his own breathing. As a prisoner of Azkaban he was not permitted much light. Not that it truly mattered. He had no eyes to see with anyway. All that were left were two burned out pits where expressive green eyes once shone forth. Those damn guards! They were the ones who did this to him! Ever since that laughable farce of a trial and his imprisonment, he had recieved "_special_ " treatment at the hands of the prison staff. As the "_Boy Who Betrayed _" it was assured. Torture instruments that had not seen the light of day for almost two hundred years were dusted off especially for him.

The rest of his body wasn't much better. At one point, some of the guards thought it would be a laugh riot to remove the young man's left arm. He still had his eyes then. He would never forget the look of maniacle glee on their faces when one of them took a rusty saw and slowly began his fun. And that was only the begining. His right arm and both legs were shredded to the bone renduring them useless. As they became infected, he had received only enough medical attention to keep him alive. It was plainly obvious that they all wanted him to suffer as much as possible. Frankly, it was surprising that they left him his manhood. Some things, he supposed, were almost sacred among some men.

"**Hey, Potter !**"

Startled, he jerked his head to the right, towards the sound of the voice. He recognized it as one of the guards.

" Ya gotta visitor, traitor!" the guard spat, banging his short club against the bars of the cell.

Albus Dumbledore stepped closer and dismissed the guard with a wave of his hand. As the guard walked away, Prof. Dumbledore took a moment to reflect on his dissapointment in the young man he had come to see. Dismissing such thoughts as counter productive, he stepped closer. Peering through the bars he felt a grim sense of satisfaction. Now, young Mr. Potter would never get the chance to become another Voldemort.

"Hello, Mr. Potter" he said calmly.

"Dumbledore. What the Hell do you want?" Harry groaned. "This is the third damn time you've come to torture me with your 'dissapointed grandfather' act. It's getting old, even for you."

"Now, now Mr. Potter. You know very well that it is my responsibility to see to it that you have no opportunity to escape."

"Escape?" Harry asked incredulously. "My left arm is gone from the shoulder, my other limbs beyond any magical means of healing, and, in case you haven't noticed, I am now** Blind** you senile twit! I don't even have my magic anymore due to that ritual you pulled out of your ass."

"I am quite sure that even with these difficulties, someone as dark as you have become would be capable of finding a means to escape. After all, anyone who would murder their last remaining relatives-"

"For the last fucking time, old man I didn't kill them! I wasn't even allowed any verataserum at the trial!"

"Now surely, Mr. Potter, you don't expect me to believe you. Whatever you may say, it was your wand that was found to have cast three succesive avada kadavra curses. There was also the widely known fact that you hated the Dursleys. There was no need for any verataserum. It was quite obvious to everyone."

"Bullshit! Not everyone has betrayed me! The Weasleys, except for Ron, Ginny, and Percy still believe in me! Hermione, Luna, and Neville support me as well. Hell, even ol' Mad-Eye, Tonks and Remus do. Someday, the rest of the wizarding world will know and regret it with all their hearts. And when you all come crawling on your knees for me to forgive you, I'll just laugh and spit in your faces. After all, Professor, there's only so much slander and hatred one is willing to tollerate. So just save your breath and leave me alone you useless old goat!"

"Indeed, they foolishly cling to the illusion of your innocence. For that they are generally riddiculed and ostricized by most everyone else. Sadly, I was forced to expell Mad-Eye, Remus, and Nymphadora from the Order as well as the Weasleys with the exception of young Ronald and Ginevra. Ms Granger has refused to return to Hogwarts and has snapped her own wand in my face saying that if she could not freely see her "brother" as she called you, than she was no longer interested in maintaining her status as a witch. Sad to see her waste her potential by choosing to be a muggle. Ms. Lovegood and Mr. Longbottem have transfered to Beauxbatons as, oddly enough, the French seem to believe in your innocence. Well, it matters not.Your execution is but a month away."

"Execution? I was given a life sentence in Azkaban!"

"True. Minister Fudge, however, has wisely decided that it was too dangerous to permit your continued existance. He has arranged for a public beheading to take place in Hogsmead. Due to their foolish belief in you, it has been decided to place all of your public supporters under house arrest for the next five weeks to prevent any public disturbances. Eventually, they shall see the error of their ways and be welcomed back into the fold. So do not worry on their account, though I doubt you are capable of it anymore. Soon you will have all the company you desire, in Hell. Good bye for the final time, Mr. Potter." With that last parting shot, Prof. Albus Dumbledore left Harry alone in the dark once more.

For the first time in his life, Harry found himself almost completely without hope. Throughout his life with the Dursleys, they had failed to break him. While maintaining an outward meek appearance, he had disciplined himself to the fact that once he had become an adult, he would never have to see his horrible relatives ever again. Every time Duddly and his gang caught him during their games of "Harry Hunting" and through the beatings that followed, he had kept that hope alive. Every time Vernon had taken his belt to him for not finishing his chores in a satisfactory manner, he had kept that hope alive. Every time Petunia had talked trash about his Parents, he had kept that hope alive. When Hagrid had given him his Hogwarts letter he felt that his prayers had finally been answered. Now, it had been completely shattered. His head fell to his chest as he choked back a sob.

What would his parents say? He doubted if this scenario had ever crossed their minds. After all, what are the chances of your only child being framed for murder, tortured mercilessly, before being publically executed? Harry would have bet his Firebolt that his father would have wanted him to pursue a career as an auror or a professional seeker. His mother, on the other hand, probably would have wanted Harry to become either a famous healer or a scholer. Thats what parents usually want for their children isn't it? The chance to live a long wonderfull happy life and to want for nothing. To experiance love and the chance to hold their own children in their loving arms.

Even more depressed, Harry's mind drifted back to the "trial". It was obvious it was supposed to go only one way. The looks on peoples faces were a dead givaway. From minister Fudge was glee at the removal of a thorn in his side. From Dumbledore was dissapointment at the thought of Harry becoming another would be dark lord. From Snape was a smug little smile at the thought of his most hated rival's son dying a disgracefull death. From Ron was the look of satisfaction at being the center of attention for a change as one of the "witnesses" against him. From Ginny was loathing at the thought that she had once fancied him. From most of the others it was a mix of screaming for his head and throwing things at him.

At least Harry had the satisfaction that his surragate sister Hermione had never wavered in her belief of his innocence. Throughout the trial, she had sat by and whispered words of incouragement to him. Mrs. Weasley was predictably crying for his sake as Mr. Weasley was pale but firm in standing by his side. The twins were, as always joking and goofing around, though he understood that it was for his sake that they put on a brave front. Moody, Tonks, and Remus had spoken on his behalf though they were laughed and jeered at by the crowd. Bill and Charlie were glaring furiously at Ron and Ginny as they testified against their former friend. Neville and Luna were unfortunetly unable to attend due to their respective guardians wishes to protect them from the angry mobs.

After the verdict had been read and Harry was escorted from the courtroom, he was treated to the sight of Ron and Ginny being scolded by their family. Finally, Ron apparently said something terrible and Ginny laughed as the rest of the Weasleys gaped in astonishment and disgust. It looked like the last straw for Hermione as she back-handed Ron hard enough to lay him on the floor with a huge purple-black bruise spreading rapidly across the side of his face. Ginny tried to defend Ron by swinging at her but was caught off guard by Charlie grabbing her fist and bending it behind her back. As the guards dragged Harry out of sight, he had the pleasure of hearing Mr. and Mrs. Weasley publically disowning the two children that had shamed them so much with their dishonor.

_' What the Hell Harry?'_' he thought to himself. '_Giving up already! No way!'_' He couldn't do that! He couldn't shame the memory of his own parents like that! He couldn't shame Sirius! He was a Potter damnit! Whether he made it out of this alive or not, it didn't matter. Before he had died, Sirius had told him many stories about the past exploits of the Potter clan. One thing they all had in common, was the fact that, while not always successful, no true Potter gave up in the face of great trouble. As one of his military ancestors put it. _"A Potter isn't neccessarily expected to succeed. A Potter is expected to die trying! Chin up! On the bounce! And always trying!"_

With that last thought, Harry began his meditation exercises. Hermione had bought him a book on occlumency just after he got back home from Hogwarts the previous summer. Not surprisingly, Snape hadn't really put any effort into teaching him, as he had discovered after practically devouring the text. It was far more complicated than clearing your mind. No, one had to spend days, perhaps weeks learning to center oneself, in preperation for even the first steps. Harry practiced whenever a spare moment presented itself. Now, it was a necessity. He wasn't sure how, but aparently, the combination of occlumency and his curse scar had made him resistant to the pressence of the dementors. It was about damn time this scar began to pay some dividends! Another odd fact, was that when he was brought into the prison, his connection to Moldy-Voldy was aparrently cut-off. Maybe it was the wards and the proximity of so many dementors that did it. Whatever. Harry didn't care so long as that inbred moron wasn't privy to his thoughts or able to torment him.

His exercises now complete, Harry made himself as comfortable as he could before drifting off to sleep. Once more, as had happened so many nights since his incarceration, his dreams were filled with the images of a lovely red-headed angel he had never met, yet felt he knew so well.

_**Candracar**_

The Oracle frowned deeply. It had been many centuries since the last time he had been this worried. Canracar was still recovering frow the war with the fallen Keeper Nerissa and already a dire situation had come up. If Harry Potter did not survive, no one would be able to stop Riddle from reviving the greatest calamity to ever exist. A calamity so great, that the last time it had appeared, it had almost rendered the Earth a lifeless wasteland.

"Jenova" he wispered.

The foul word sent a shiver down even his spine. So many thousands of years had passed and the Earth had changed so much since Jenova was thought to have been destroyed. The Oracle had known that a few pieces had survived, preserved, but had hoped that they would never be found. He had not counted on anyone finding Hojo's and Professor Gast's old journals in the buried remains of Nibelheim. But now one of Tom Riddle's servants had discovered the buried basement lab of the ancient Shinra mansion. Lucius Malfoy, while a mostly unimaginative man, had known an opportunity for reward when he saw one. And now Tom Riddle, the very last descendant of one of Sepheroth's remnants, sought the remains of Jenova in order to bring the whole of Earth under his thumb. All those horrible rituals he had put himself through had the unexpected side affect of increasing the power of the Sepheroth DNA in his system. He didn't realize what Sepheroth's true goal had been.

And now, Harry Potter, the last descendant of Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockheart was horribly maimed, and facing execution on false charges. He needed help and lots of it. It was time for a new age on Earth. A new order. A new Rule. It was Harry's destiny to lead the world into this new age of hope and prosperity. So if he needed help, he would get it! After all, the Oracle knew that Cloud and Tifa's descendants would be very special. It was this same bloodline that had given rise to King Arthur. So it was only fitting that Harry would one day be a great hero.

The Guardians of the Veil glanced nervously at each other as they stood before the Congregation of Candracar. Newly victorious over the traitor Nerissa only a few weeks before, they were very concerned about the Oracle's apparently grim mood. If he had a frown at all, let alone one that deep, it didn't take much to figure out that something was very, very wrong.

As they waited, Cornelia glanced over at Caleb. She didn't get to see her soul-mate nearly as often as they would like. He appeared just as glad to see her as she was to see him. Will was, meanwhile, lamenting the fact that her crush, Matt Olsen, had started dating another musician named Rebecca Adams. Taranee was smiling softly at the thoughts of her last date with her beau Nigel Ashcroft. Hay Lin was frowning slightly at the fact that her "relationship" with Eric Lyndon had never really gotten off the ground when she found him kissing another girl. Irma meanwhile, was thinking that she really needed to get a boyfriend but wasn't desperate enough to go out with Martin Tubbs.

Finally, the Oracle focussed on the young women before him.

"Guardians" he intoned. "A dire situation has arrisen."

The concern and outright fear etched on his face kept even Irma from cracking a nervous joke. Her mouth suddenly dry, Will stepped foward.

"W-what is it sir?" she asked, fear and uncertainty evident in her voice and posture.

The Oracle sighed deeply.

"In order for you to trully understand the scope of the current crisis, it will be neccessary for me to lay a great deal of history before you. Please sit and observe."

Cushions were brought in for the Guardians as a great disc of shimmering air appeared before them. As they sat down, images from the distant past came to life. Silently, and with brows furrowed, the girls watched as the events between a corrupt corperation known as Shinra and the rebel group Avalanche played out. They gasped in horror at the revelation of Jenova, wept quietly as Cloud laid Aerith to rest, and smiled at the victory over Sepheroth and the planets healing. They then watched the events which followed three years later involving the remnants of Sepheroth. They muttered to each other with worry over the children infected with the geostigma, gritted their teeth at Sepheroth's return and sighed with relief as Cloud rose from the pool and healed Denzel of the dreaded disease.

"Incredible" Hay Lin wispered.

The others could only nod in agreement.

"Now I realize that this has been a long tale already,"The Oracle said. "Yet it is only the first half of the story."

For the next two hours, the Oracle told them all about the Wizarding World. To say the girls were shocked would be a severe understatement. An entire magical culture existed on Earth without their knowledge. A culture with their own schools, shops, and Governments within every country in the world. They learned all about the triumphs and tragedys, heroes, villians, glory and shame.The first and current wars against Voldemort were laid out in excruciating detail. The Guardians were soon scowling at the accepted bigotrys of the wizarding public. The prejudice against muggle-borns and magical creatures was repugnant to them. They were also confused at the lack of social and productive innovation. They listened spellbound ( no pun intended ) and with a growing dismay to the full story of the Boy Who Lived. Once finished, the Oracle waited a few moments as the Guardians expressed their displeasure of the Wizarding World.

"Now," he began, as they settled down once more. "The connection between these two stories lies in three simple, yet highly unlikely facts. One: Tom Riddle is the last remaining descendant of a remnant of Sepheroth. ( Collective gasp from the girls ). Two: Harry Potter is the last remaining descendant of Cloud Strife and Tifa Lockheart. ( Romantic smiles, raised eye-brows, or frowns of worry ). Three: Riddle has acquired clues that could lead him to recover several remaining pieces of Jenova."

Faces now deathly pale, the girls glanced worridly at one another.

"How can we help sir?" Taranee asked, her dark skin now shiny with a nervous sweat. "If what you say is true, only Harry Potter has the power to defeat Voldemort. And he has been imprisoned falsely on Voldemort's orders."

"Yeah," Hay Lin spoke up."If we don't do something quick, their going to execute him!"

"It gets worse, my young friends. There was one thing I have not yet mentioned. Observe."

Once more the shimmering disc of air appeared. This time, however, it did not show a scene of the distant past. This time, it showed a dark, dank primative prison cell and the torn and mutilated figure within.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?" Irma shouted. "How could they do that to him?"

Irma's father was a police sergeant who was well known to possess a strong sense of justice. It was no surprise that she had picked up on his attitude. The sight of Harry's undeserved torment had yanked it out of her. The callous cruelty of the Wizarding World had severly shaken them all. Hay Lin and Cornelia were now crying openly. Taranee was staring in shocked confusion. Irma was shaking with anger and grief. And Will...

Will gaped. "_Oh my God! It's HIM'. _She knew him! But how? She had never even laid eyes on him before this moment. Never heard his name before this day. Yet his hair, his scar, even in his current state, she could recognize him perfectly. It was as though his every feature were ingraved into her soul. Only in her dreams did she ever..._'Is it possible? Is he my...'_ Stumbling foward, she reached out to gently touch the image.

"Will, whats wrong?" Cornelia asked, confused and concerned about her friend.

"I know him" she replied, never taking her eyes from the boy.

"What, how?" Cornelia gasped, now very concerned.

"The same way you knew Caleb when two you first met" Will now looked back at her friends.

The entire Congregation of Candricar began to murmer softly to each other, surprised at this new development.

As Will's friends stared at her in wonder, the Oracle digested this new grain of information carefully.

"It is a possability" he began slowly. "Likely even. As Cornelia and Calebs souls resonate to one another in response to their connection, it is possible that your's is begining to respond to Harry."

As the other Guardians were wide-eyed in astonishment, Will ground her teeth in barely supressed rage.

"How do we help him?" she demanded. "How do we get him out of Azkaban?"

"Unfortunately, the various magical protection and alarm wards cast upon the prison make it severely dangerous at best to use the Heart of Candricar to open a portal into or around the complex. There is only one chance to do this. One month from now, Harry Potter is slated to be publically executed in the village of Hogsmead, a short distance from Hogwarts. He will be transported there from just outside the Azkaban wards by means of a portkey along with at least three guards. Once they arrive, they will be surrounded by several units of aurors in order to maintain crowd controll. The only chance you have to free him is when they bring him up to the...chopping..block to remove his...head. However, your skills are not enough to do this alone. For this mission and for the upcoming war, you will need to recruit some help."

Handing Will a scroll, the Oracle continued.

"Upon this scroll, you will find the names, pictures, and stories of the greatest young heroes in the world. These are people who have faced great peril and hardship in their short lives. Take and study it for the rest of the day. Tomorrow, you will begin your mission. While you do this, tonight, I will contact Harry and explain the situation to him. Will, please hand me the Heart of Candracar for a moment."

Will gently removed the ancient pendant from her neck and reverently placed it in the Oracle's palm. Cupping it in both hands, his face took on a look of utmost concentration. A soft, white glow emenated from it's depths for a few moments before fading.

"Now you will be able to display the histories you have just seen to those you must speak to." he explained as he handed the heart back to it's Keeper. Bowing slightly, Will backed away as she donned the Heart once more. Once she reached her friends, she opened the scroll.

"Hey!" Will grinned as she looked back to the Oracle. "Elyon and Caleb are on this list!"

"Yes, they will be needed." The Oracle smiled softly. "Queen Elyon would make an excellent ally, as you can access Meridian at any time it would make a much needed refuge in case of an emergency, with the young queen's permission, of course. As for Caleb, his experiances as a rebel leader will prove vital to the group. He has also begun to develop some rather unexpected abilities. Caleb, would you please demonstrate for the ladies?"

Stepping forward hesitantly, Caleb extended his right hand. A moment later, a shimmering blade of energy appeared in his hand. With a look of concentration on his face, Caleb extended it into a broadsword. Now slack-jawed, the Guardians turned to look back at the Oracle.

"Caleb has become what is known as a soulknife." The Oracle explained. "It is a type of psionic class that excells in combat. Psionics are the pure powers of the mind as opposed to magic which relies on an external source of energy. Psions, as most people who possess such powers are known, vary widely in specialties and temperments. Upon the scroll, you will find other psions, as well as those with magical powers, martial arts, technical skills, or other various usefull abilities. Do not dismiss those without magic as harmless, lest you be caught unawares. Remember, the true goal of this mission is not only to stop Tom Riddle, but to provide an understanding and a middle ground between many types of peoples, both human and otherwise. We have a chance to make the Earth a place of peace and great beauty, where all can be welcome."

As they nodded in understanding, Will clenched her fist in determination. They would not fail, she swore. They would not fail the world. They would not fail Harry!

Well, thats it for chapter one. I hope you liked it. Please be gentle in reviewing as I am a Fanfic Virgin. This is the first I have ever written.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Okay, I don't own Harry Potter, W.I.T.C.H., Final Fantasy 7, Final fantasy 7 Advent Children, Code Lyoko, American Dragon Jake Long, Life and Times of Juniper Lee, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Ben 10, Shadowrun RPG, Starship Troopers RPG, Dungeons and Dragons RPG, various D20 sources, any of the characters therein, or whatever else the reader may recognize as coming from a TV show, movie, book, video game, comic book, music video, or any other role playing game. This story is an uber crossover. I am writing this story for other peoples enjoyment, and to rid myself of this creative pinball that has been bouncing around in my head for over three months. So please don't sue me, I have no money anyway. Oh by the way, its also a self insert. So if you don't like it, BUGGER OFF YOU RUDDY WANKERS!

Warning: The following story contains graphic descriptions of torture, mutilation, intense violence, intense language, and maybe some sexuality, I have not decided yet. So for safety's sake, this fic is rated M.

Authers Note: Okay, just about all the characters that I'll be bringing in from other series will be in the fifteen to sixteen year old range. This means that Will is old enough for Harry to be interested in her. This is also so that I can pair up other odd pairings that I believe would work well. I intend to have a whole lot of fun with this.

**Thunderstruck: Chapter 2**

For a prisoner of Azkaban, the concept of time held little meaning, if any at all. Minutes blended into hours. Hours blended into days. Days blended into weeks. And so on, and so on. Since Harry had no clock or watch (had no eyes to see it anyway but never mind that), the only way he had to tell how long he had been here was the number of times he had been fed. Though he knew that the guards had not exactly been diligent in their duties anyway. The most humiliating aspect of it though was the fact that the guards actually had to hand feed him as Harry's remaining arm was completely useless anyway. The guards seemed to enjoy the fact that Harry was unable to help himself in the slightest way. They would often deliberatly "drop" whatever it was that they were feeding him. At other times, they would place the plate right next to him and just walk off, laughing all the way. He really hated it when they laughed.

Harry sighed, annoyed. He could smell the "food" sitting next to him. Of course, food was a word that could only be loosely applied to the slop the always gave him. Old putrid meat, hard bread, soggy vegetables. He was barely able to survive on this crap! At least the Dursleys had fed him with high quality food, even if they never gave him a whole hell of a lot of it. Strange, he almost missed them. Almost. He still had nightmares about the beatings he had once received at their hands. Especially the last ones. The Orders plan to scare the Dursleys had backfired horribly. Everything he had endured from them in the past had seemed minor by comparison. Vernon was, of course, the worst. Fortunately, Harry had sent Hedwig to live with Hermione for the summer a few days into his "Holidays". Vernon had threatened to kill her if Harry told anyone about the way they treated the freak. Petunia had even gotten into the act. Instead of merely yelling at him, she had taken to hitting him at every opportunity for any reason, real or imagined.

As he contemplated these increasingly dark thoughts, an odd feeling came over him. A strange tickling sensation in the back of his mind that was both soothing and uplifting at the same time. It was a feeling of complete peace and contentment. '_Hmph, long time since I felt like this'_, he thought. Strangly, he could not help doing the one thing that no prisoner had ever done while in Azkaban. Harry smiled. Why was he smiling? He doubted he could have found an answer if he was asked. All that he knew was that he had the sudden feeling that things were about to get substantially better. Was he finally going mad? Then, he heard it.

"_Harry ... Harry_."

Yep. He knew it. He'd finally snapped. A voice in his head. One of the classic symptoms of insanity.

Suddenly, the tickling sensation intensified a thousand fold. As his head jerked back in surprise, Harry was startled to find that he was no longer in his filthy cell. Instead, he found himself in the most beautiful place he had ever seen. Immediately, Harry was struck by the feeling of being in a great cathedral. There was something so solemn, so reverant and holy about the place's aura that made him feel that sadness was almost impossible here. The architecture was strangely etherial and distinct. He had never seen anything to rival the dignity and sheer majesty of this grand place. Stepping closer to a column he was near revealed sculpted reliefs and scenesof angelic women, seated monks of various unidentifiable species, and great battles against unnamed evils. Looking around, Harry realized that there were no unadorned surfaces in sight.The floor was tiled seemingly with jewels. Instead of seeming gaudy, it made him think of standing in a field of the loveliest flowers imaginable. The columns were magnificient. The walls were incredible. The buttresses were exquisite. The windows...

" What the Hell !"

Slowly stepping closer to the window, Harry stared outside dumbfounded. There was nothing out there! Nothing but an endless blue sky and thousands of cotton-like white clouds. How was this possible? Even with magic, this place should have had something to stand on. Well, he had to admit, it was a beautifull affect. Totally captivated by view, he was unaware of his summoner's approach.

" Hello, Harry."

Harry whipped around so fast, he was momentarily afraid of whiplash. He found himself face to smiling face with one of the strangest people he had ever met. At first glance, it appeared to be a young man, say, early to mid twenties garbed in odd but simple monk's robes. He was completely bald, and had a strange tatoo on the right side of his head. He had a small triangular goatee and very thin eyebrows. As Harry looked closer, he noticed the man's bright, gentle eyes. They were almost hypnotic, conveying a feeling of complete faith and trust in whomsoever he was looking at. They contained a simple, yet vast wisdom that Harry knew surpassed Dumbledore, as a hundred year old man would surpass a three year old.

"W-where am I? Who the hell are you!" Harry stammered, confused.

"I am the Oracle of Candracar. And this,"he said,gesturing at their surroundings," is Candracar. Though truly, this is only a psychic representation of Candracar. You never left your cell. I summoned your subconscience mind here so that we could converse. We are speaking to each other telepathically."

"What? Thats odd. Pro- um, Snape said that mind-reading was a foolish muggle concept."

"Yet you know quite well that Severus Snape of all people, is not infallable. The wizards of your world appear to believe that anything they themselves cannot achieve, must be impossible for everyone. There are so many more ways to achieve one's desired goals than by merely using magic. How else can you explain the fact that you can now see? Or the fact that you have regained the use of your limbs?"

Harry was surprised to find that the Oracle was correct. In his fascination with his surroundings he had completely failed to notice that he could see once again and even had his left arm back.

"Please come sit with me," the Oracle continued, leading Harry to a large window seat. "We have a great deal to discuss today. Before we continue, however, you must know that I am completely aware of your innocence. I must say that I am highly dissapointed in the Earth's wizarding population as a whole. I have watched all of your struggles, from your abuse at the hands of the Dursleys to your so-called trial and subsequent imprisonment. I have rarely seen a more selfless and generous person from any world. You can rightly believe that your parents would have been proud of the man you have become. I say man because that is what you are. You have, through no fault of your own, been forced to grow up and assume the mantle of adulthood far sooner than you should ever have had to." Here, the Oracle paused to gently grip Harry on the shoulder. "Now I believe that we must return to business. I am very afraid that your war against Voldemort has far more severe connotations than even Albus Dumbledore is aware of. What I am about to tell you is without a doubt one of the strangest tales you will ever hear within your lifetime. Yet you must believe that it is true. Otherwise, all life on this world is doomed."

For the next three hours, Harry learned all about the history of Candracar and the story of Jenova. Aghast, Harry didn't know what to think. After all, it wasn't every day that you were brought to the very center of infinity and told that you were descended from two of the greatest heroes (Cloud and Tifa) to have ever existed. It filled him with such a huge sense of pride. What were the chances? It was almost like the Lord of the Rings. A great fellowship of friends had come together, fought against all odds, and had finally saved the world. It was perhaps a bit cliche, but hey, it never fails to make for a great story. Yet, as the story continued, he began to feel a nearly overwhelming sense of despair. How could he deal with this new responsibility? With what few friends he had left cut off from him and under house arrest, how could he honestly be expected to be able to make a difference? Never mind for a moment the fact that he was effectively crippled, unable to even feed himself. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more depressed and angry he became.

"So what your saying, is that unless I find a way to finally stop Riddle, all life on Earth will be completely destroyed. And then he, as Sepheroth, will use the Earth as a vessel to travel to another world to repeat the process all over again. HOW! How am I supposed to do anything while imprisoned, blind, crippled, and about to be executed? Lets face it. I'm not fit to help anyone. Not my family, not my friends, nobody."

( Okay, I just had to have that line in my fic. It's just to good not to. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, go watch Final Fantasy VII Advent Children.)

The Oracle sighed and placed his hand on Harry's shoulder reassuringly.

"Harry, you will not be alone in this. My disciples, the Guardians of the Veil are recruiting a force of young heroes and their mentors. They possess skills and abilities far beyond anything the wizarding world has ever come across. Not only alternative forms of magic, but also psychic powers, technical skills, martial arts, and pure genius. Using these abilities, we plan to free you on the very day of your execution. It is the only day you will be outside of Azkaban's wards. Afterwards, you will be taken to an extremely safe location where your wounds will be healed. Trust me when I say that you will be more powerfull than ever before, even without your magic. I will not say how just yet, but you shall be. Now, I am afraid that our time together has come to a close. When next we meet, you will be a free man and leader of an extremely elite force. Think of your friends and all those you wish to protect. They will give you strength in the days to come. Farewell, for now, my young friend."

With these parting words, Harry's world spun, and he once again found himself blind and unable to move. The musty, rank odor of the prison hit him like a reductor curse to the balls. After the wonderfully sacred feeling of Candracar, it was such a let down to be back in this hell hole. Shaking these irrelivent thoughts from his mind, Harry began to think over his conversation with the Oracle. It was such a huge revelation. Never before had he even thought about such things in any great detail. Other worlds, other universes, it was so incredible. For some strange reason, he just couldn't doubt his sanity. It was simply to strange for his mind to have made it up as a feverish hallucination. He simply knew it was true. Harry grinned wide. If the Oracle was correct, he would soon have more friends than he would know what to do with. Real friends. Ones that would't turn on him for fame, profit, or popularity. Harry couldn't wait to meet them.

He soon found himself singing softly. It was a song he had first heard when Dudley was having a party in the Dursley's backyard. The sterio had been going full blast and he could hear it from Dudley's "second bedroom". The song was by an American band called AC/DC. For some strange reason, Harry had never forgotten it. It had almost become his personal anthem. No matter how bad his day had been, it always made him feel better, like there was nothing he couldn't do. The song was called "Thunderstruck".

(Thunder) (x10)

I was caught

In the middle of a railroad track (Thunder)

I looked around

And I knew there was no turning back (Thunder)

My mind raced

And I thought what could I do (Thunder)

And I knew

There was no help, no help from you (Thunder)

Sound of the drums

Beatin' in my heart

The thunder of guns

tore me apart

You've been - Thunderstruck

Rode down the highway

Broke the limit, we hit the town

Went down to Texas, yeah Texas

And we had some fun

We met some girls

Some dancers who gave a good time

Broke all the rules, played all the fools

Yeah, yeah. they, they, they blew our minds

I was shakin' at the knees

Could I come again please?

Yeah the ladies were too kind

You've been - thunderstruck, thunderstruck

Yeah yeah yeah, thunderstruck

Yeah

Oh, thunderstruck, yeah

Now we're shaking at the knees

Could I come again please?

Thunderstruck, thunderstruck

Yeah yeah yeah, thunderstruck

Thunderstruck, yeah, yeah, yeah

Said yeah, it's alright

We're doing fine

Yeah, its alright

We're doing fine

(So fine)

Thunderstruck, yeah, yeah, yeah

Thunderstruck, thunderstruck, thunderstruck

Woah baby, baby, Thunderstruck

You've been thunderstruck, thunderstruck

Thunderstruck, thunderstruck, thunderstruck

You've been thunderstruck

The guard heard the sounds of his singing a few cells away as he made his rounds. He was about to yell at Harry to shut up, when a shiver ran down his spine. For some strange reason, disturbing Harry Potter right now seemed like very bad idea. There was something about the way he was singing that completely terrified the guard. The sound of the word "Thunderstruck" seemed very ominous. Without a backwards glance, the guard abandoned his rounds and walked hastely away.

Authors Note: Okay, that's it for chapter two. Yes, I am very much an AC/DC fan. Every time I hear Thunderstruck, I think that it would make a pretty good theme song for Harry. Maybe I should have a continuing music theme. Each of the characters would have a song or collection of songs to sum up how they react to certain situations. Like getting new clothes and having ZZ Top's "Sharp Dressed Man" playing in the background. Oh well. Just a thought. Well, I have to thank Ying-Darkness, BubblegumTuna, and Moon-Freak00 for reviewing my first chapter. You have given me the courage to continue to walk into the dragon's den of finiky fanfic readers.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own Harry Potter, W.I.T.C.H., Final Fantasy 7, Final fantasy 7 Advent Children, Code Lyoko, Ben10, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, American Dragon Jake Long, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Resident Evil, Shadowrun RPG, Dungeons & Dragons, Various D20 sources, any of the characters therein, or whatever else the reader may recognize as coming from a TV show, movie, comic book, book, or music video. This story is going to be a huge crossover as well as a self insert fic. It's written for the enjoyment of others in mind and not for any personal profit. Well, I really have no money anyway, so it would be pretty pointless to sue, huh?

Warning: The following story contains graphic descriptions of torture, mutilation, intense violence, and maybe some sexuality, I still haven't decided yet (pathetic, huh?). For safety's sake, this fic is rated M.

**Thunderstruck: Chapter 3**

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Corridor

Professor Minerva McGonagall was calm as she approached the Headmaster's office. She had finally made up her mind and she refused to turn back. As much as she hated to admit it, it was finally time to put her foot down. Pausing in front of the gargoyle guardian for Prof. Dumbledore's office, she had to take a moment to remember the password.

"Twizzlers" she said. _Honestly, these passwords get more ridiculous every year. _The gargoyle hopped aside. Climbing the stairs, she knocked on the office door.

" Come in Minerva" Prof. Dumbledore's voice came, muffled only slightly by the door.

_I hate it when he does that!_ She thought as she opened the door. _No doubt he thinks it amuses people._

Prof. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, apparently going over the list of new first year students for the coming year. His office had barely changed over the years. Desk in the center, portraits crowding the walls, mounds of paperwork, cluttered shelves of arcane knick-knacks. It was one of the few things that remained constant over the years. No matter what, Headmaster Dumbledore's office conveyed a sense of comfort and confidance. It was this fact that made any difference glaringly obvious.

Fawkes was missing.

Professor McGonnagal paused in surprise. raising one eyebrow at the empty perch, she stepped all the way into the office.

"Tell me Albus, where is Fawkes?"

"I...really don't know." He replied, clasping his hands beneath his chin. Directing a sad look at the perch, he continued. "I have not seen him in nearly a week, since my last visit to Azkaban. I do hope he returns soon, I quite miss my faithfull pet."

"Pet? Hmph. I was always under the impression that he was more of a companion or a partner than a pet." She shot him a small glare. "Perhaps he knows something that you refuse to even consider."

"Please, let us not start this again, Minerva. I realize that you felt very attached to the boy, but you must simply face facts. He is guilty, the prophesy was obviously false (serves me right for relying on Sibyll), and soon, he will be paying the ultimate penalty for his crime. Now please, no more of this nonsense. We have much work ahead of us to prepare for the coming school year."

"Correction, Professor Dumbledore. You have much to prepare for, not we. In light of recent events, and a great deal of soul searching on my part, I have decided to tender my resignation as both transfiguration professor of Hogwarts, and as a member of the Order of the Phoenix. I have no doubt that you shall be able to locate a qualified replacement before the school year begins again in two months."

"Minerva, please-"

"**NO!** I realize that you were relying on me a great deal. I, however, have made my decision. Sometimes I don't even know who you are anymore. You refuse to even consider the possability that you may be making a mistake. You think far to highly of yourself Professor. Where is the famous humility you once displayed? The fairness? The sense of true justice? All I see now is arrogance, egotism, and a complete disregard for valued laws. Even if Harry had killed the Dursleys, which I don't believe for a second, it would have been your fault!"

At that, Dumbledore looked completely shocked.

"My fault? How on Earth could it be my fault Minerva! How can I be held responsable for that murderer's decisions?"

Gritting her teeth at Prof. Dumbledore's obtuseness, Minerva retaliated swiftly.

"Really? It was you who repeatedly sent him back to that Purgatory of pain and anguish every year. For Merlin's sake! You knew they were beating and starving him. You just didn't care so long as those blood wards held! If Harry was indeed the killer, than you are the one responsable for creating him! Just as you created Voldemort the same way!"

Dumbledore's eyes now narrowed dangerously, the trademark twinkle now replaced by a cold hard edge rarely seen.

"If you continue with this course of action, I will have no choice but to notify the Ministry and have them place you under house arrest untill after Potter's execution."

Obviously dissapointed in him, but fully expecting that response, Minerva answered.

"I know. All my possessions are already packed. I merely request a few hours to say my goodbyes and to reach my home before you inform those Ministry boot-lickers."

"Granted, but do not take too long," he replied in a sadly resigned tone. "I can only hope that you come back to your senses before too long."

"I already have" she frowned back at him before she wheeled around, strode through the door, and closed it behind her.

Prof. Dumbledore leaned back in his seat and stared blankly at the ceiling.

"Dear Merlin, Potter. How many more do you intend to drag down with you before you finally die?" he muttered.

Finding no answers forthcoming, he heaved a great sigh and straightened up. Reaching for a quill and a blank sheet of parchment, he began to draft an advertisement for a new transfiguration professor to send to the Daily Prophet.

Meanwhile, as Minerva left the office, she paused. She had the strangest feeling that someone was watching her. Glancing around and finding nothing, she shrugged it off as inconsequential. It was probably nothing she figured. Merely an odd sensation brought about by frazzled nerves and a riled temper.

As Minerva walked off, the entity watched her with satisfaction. She (for the entity was definitly female) was very glad that at least one staff member besides Hagrid didn't believe Harry guilty of these stupid charges. For the first time since his imprisonment, she began to feel hope.

Ever since the Founders had discovered this place of power and built their school here, she had watched all the dramas that had occured within these walls. It was, after all, far more interesting and important than simply drifting through the lifestream. This place was special to her long before the school was built. It was one of the few places on Earth where the lifestream came close enough to the surface for her presence to be felt and allow her to interact with people and things. Over time, she had gained complete controll over the castle in ways Dumbledore would have thought impossible. The Founders, confused by her presence, had simply named her Lady Hogwarts. Her real name was completely forgotten by history. It wasn't that she needed recognition, but honestly, who wanted to be named after a pig's skin blemish?

Well, for the past thousand years, she watched protectively over the school. She saw all the interactions between students, teachers, and other staff. Much of the time she was amused. At other times sad. Or rarely, angry. Now was one of those angry times. She knew Harry had not commited any crimes, much less murder. It simply wasn't in his character. And she would know. He was the descendant of two of the greatest friends she had ever had. Cloud and Tifa would be absolutely livid when they found out about this. _Well,_ she thought. _At least I can make my displeasure known around here._ She knew that any manifestation involving the "Lady Hogwarts" was always taken seriously by the staff and students, as well as making big news everywhere in magical Britain._ Time to make Albus Dumbledore sincerely regret his decisions regarding dear Harry. _Though she was not a vindictive person by any stretch of the imagination, she felt that it was due time for some good old fashioned payback.

And with that thought, Aerith began to plan.

London - An upper middle class home

Hermione lay curled upon her bed as Hedwig watched her worridly from her perch atop one of the many bookshelves lining the walls of the room. She knew that she should be studying to prepare herself for her first year of highschool. Fortunately for her, it was relatively easy to bring herself up to the appropriate grade level. But every single time she picked up a book, her mind would wander back to the times she, Harry, and Ron would spend hours studying and doing homework in the Gryffindor comman room.

Even then, she could see Ron's jeolousy of Harry spiraling slowly out of controll. It was no secret that he greatly desired everything that Harry possessed. Wealth, fame, talent, respect. Everything he felt he had been wrongfully denied in life. So his turning against Harry during the trial was no real surprise to Hermione. No, the real surprise had been Ginny. That little slut! Apparently her crush on Harry had been based mostly on a desire to be connected to his fame and wealth. After her betrayel, Ginny found herself being courted by any boy who could get close enough. She obviously thrived on the attention. Both Ron and Ginny had gotten even more arrogant when Prof. Dumbledore had taken them into his home after they had been disowned. So now, they both bore the surname Dumbledore.

Dumbledore. Hermione scowled deeply as her thoughts turned to her former headmaster. How could she have blindly trusted him the way she did? She had expected him, of all people, to have complete faith in Harry. Instead, he seemed obsessed with preventing Harry from becoming another "dark lord". It was so easy for him to believe Harry guilty. Almost as though he had wanted Harry to be guilty. It was this attitude that had completely disillusioned Hermione.

"Hermione, dear?"

She raised her head at the sound of her mother's voice.

Ema Grainger was an attractive thirty eight year old woman. Looking at her, it was easy to see where Hermione had gotten her looks. Well, all except the bushy hair that is.

"Honey, are you alright?" She asked, love and concern radiating from her.

"No, not really mum. I still can't understand it. No matter how hard I try, I just can't see why it would be so easy for them to believe that Harry was guilty. He would never have killed the Dursleys. No matter how cruel they were. I just know it. He's the brother I've always wanted, mum."

Ema smiled.

"I know dear. You always were smarter than me." Deep pride was evident in her voice. "If you believe in his innocence, that's more than enough for me. I just wish you hadn't given up on your magic."

"How can I honestly be part of a society that disregards its own laws when it's convenient for them? And their citizens see nothing wrong with it! They're so set in their ways, that any new or revolutionary ideas are met with open hostility, fear, and scorn. That's one of the ways Mug-...er non magical people have an extreme advantage. No matter how insane the idea, there are people who will at least listen."

At this, Hedwig swooped down from her perch, landed on the bed's headboard, and gave a hoot of agreement. Ema laughed as her daughter stroked her affectionetly. It was easy to see that the snow white owl greatly missed her true master, no matter how much she liked Hermione. As she stopped laughing, Ema noticed a large chest in the corner of the room.

"Dear, you havn't even looked at the books Mr. Black left you in his will. I know your upset, but that just isn't like you at all."

Hermione sighed. "I know, mum. It isn't as though I'm not gratefull to Sirius, but I can't use any of it now. And at any rate, I can't even pick up a book without thinking of Harry."

"Than read and think of him. Let him inspire you. And unless I'm very much mistaken, the week before the trial, you were telling your father and I about the possabilities of wandless magic. There may be something in that old trunk you may be able to use, if not to help Harry, than to avenge him."

Hermione stared at her mother in shock. "What?" she whispered.

Ema's eyes drilled into her. "You are a brave and strong young woman. As a witch, you were at the top of your class from the very first day. This total miscarriage of justice cannot be tolerated. If there is anyone who can set things right, it's you. You, as always, have my complete faith and trust."

After gently kissing her daughter on the forhead, she continued.

"Well, I'd better get back downstairs and help your father with dinner before he kills himself. A brilliant dentist he may be, but a chef he is not. Please think about what I've said."

After Ema had left, Hermione carefully considered her words. After about twelve minutes, she had to concede that her mother was indeed correct. Taking a deep breath and steeling herself, she walked over to the chest and gingerly opened it. It was, predictably, filled to the brim with books straight from the Black library. Sirius had prepared it just for her while he had been stuck at Grimmauld Place. They were all very old, the youngest being written about three hundred years ago. Picking up one of the oldest, she stared at the title.

"A Treatise On The Most Ancient And Mysterious Art Of Truename Magic"

"Well, this looks interesting" she muttered to herself. Lying back down on the bed, she offered up a quick prayer for Harry, and opened the book.

The Old Riddle House

As he sat upon his throne, the Dark Lord smiled in appreciation of it's craftsmanship. It was made entirely from the bones of muggle-born witches and wizards. It's cushions were stitched from their skins and stuffed with their hair. Truly, this was a throne that inspired fear and awe in all who beheld it. So of course, the Dark Lord found it quite suitable for one of his noble stature. Leaning back and gripping the skulls at the end of each arm-rest, he looked out over his masked followers kneeling in a semicircle before their lord.

"Lucius, my old friend, any luck on translating the tomes you were so kind to provide for me?" he asked, his voice high, cold and cruel as ever.

"No, unfortunately none my lord." he replied hesitantly with fear in his voice. He hurried on before Voldemort took the opportunity to punish him. "None of the translation spells in existance have been able to make any sense of them. The language and lettering predate anything known on Earth today, master."

"Hmmmm." Voldemort pondered for a few moments before looking up again with a disgusted, but resigned frown twisting his features. "Unless I'm mistaken, the muggles have excelent linguists and code-breakers amoung them. We may as well make use of some of their few real talents before we enslave them all. I would rather not have rely on our obvious inferiors, but it seems there is no choice."

"Of course, my lord" Lucius replyed, surprised, but pleased that it appeared that he would not be punished for this failure on his part. "I will hire an appropriate firm immediatly."

"Good. Now, Weasly, report!"

Beneath his mask, Percy smiled grimly. He was so glad that he had the sense to become a Deatheater. His foolish former family simply had no pride in their heritage, their birthright. They were also far to close to that muggle loving fool Dumbledore. It was these reasons and the lack of monitary assets that had driven him into Voldemort's camp. His position in the Ministry had made him exceedingly valuable agent to the cause.

"I have excellent news, my lord. It appears that twit Fudge and the old man have finally decided to have Potter beheaded publically in Hogsmead at the end of the month."

Bolting upright, the dark lord smiled widely in cruel pleasure. His followers murmered in happiness at the thought of Harry being killed by those he had once tried to defend.

"This is truly wonderfull news. I am most pleased by this."

"I am sorry to interrupt my lord, but there is more." Percy interjected.

Voldemort, not very pleased to be interrupted, raised one eyebrow at him. "Oh?"

"Apparently, there is to be a large festival that day in order to commemorate the occasion. The execution is to be the main "entertainment". Witches and Wizards from all over England will be flocking to attend it. Fudge and Dumbledore will be acting as hosts and masters of ceremonies for the occasion."

Now laughing openly (and loudly), Voldemort nearly doubled over in mirth. "Wonderfull ! Truly wonderfull! Why, they are doing all our work for us. I simply cannot wait untill I have that old fool at my mercy and confess to him that it was I and not Potter who killed those wretched muggles. Ahahahahahaha! The look upon his face will be priceless as he realizes that he had killed the one they looked on as a symbol of Light." A mock sorrowfull pout appeared on his twisted featured. "How sad that I will not be able to attend the festival. I do so love a good party."

Laughing loudly with their lord, the deatheaters were drunk on the feeling of imminent victory in the air. Without their precious Golden Boy as their symbol of defiance, the Wizarding world would soon kneel at their lord's feet.

"Go, my friends. Go and continue your assignments. Know that soon, the world will be our's!"

Dismissed, the deatheaters bowed to their master and filed out of the makeshift throne room, still chuckling and talking of the victories to come.

Now alone. Tom Riddle relaxed and leaned back in his morbid throne. Reaching to his right, he picked up a small, ornatly carved box of some unknown alloy from the table at his side.

"Well, well, well. Such pleasant news." He murmered softly, setting the box down in his lap and opening it. "Soon, soon we will finally rule this world and those of pure blood shall be revered as gods amoung men. And you," he whispered to the tiny pulsing bit of unidentifiable flesh within the box. "You shall be responsable for it all. It is quite fortunate that Lucius found you when he did. Surrounded by those ancient tomes for so many thousands of years. If he had not found you, we would never have known what power could have been ours. Power that shall bring our enemies and the world to their knees. Soon this world will know me as it's father and you, as it's mother. Yes. Mother. That is what I shall call you. Mother."

In the box, the tiny piece of Jenova wriggled slightly as Tom Riddle stroked it with a lovers caress, his laughter echoing through the mansion.

Auther's Note: Okay, that's it for this chapter. I know it's taking me a long time to write it, but I am a very disorganized person. And I am still trying to figure out how to introduce all the characters I want to have in this fic. Much less, what abilities to give them and my self-insert character. So please be patient and remember that this is my first fic.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own Harry Potter, W.I.T.C.H., Final Fantasy 7, Final fantasy 7 Advent Children, Code Lyoko, Ben10, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, American Dragon Jake Long, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Resident Evil, Shadowrun RPG, Dungeons & Dragons, Starship Troopers RPG, Various D20 sources, any of the characters therein, or whatever else the reader may recognize as coming from a TV show, movie, comic book, book, or music video. This story is going to be a huge crossover as well as a self insert fic. It's written for the enjoyment of others in mind and not for any personal profit. Well, I really have no money anyway, so it would be pretty pointless to sue, huh?

Warning: The following story contains graphic descriptions of torture, mutilation, intense violence, and sexuality (yeah, I finally decided). For safety's sake, this fic is rated M.

Author's note: Okay, I've finally decided on all the characters and what abilities they're going to have. I have tried to be as true to the various series as I possibly could, but many of the characters that I wanted in this fic lacked abilities and powers that would put them all on an even playing field. So I decided to draw from my vast library of role-playing source books to find powers to match their personalities. Games like Dungeons & Dragons and Shadowrun. Also, my self insert character will have abilities inspired by the Resident Evil franchise (games, books, and movies). I will also have an assumed name due to the fact that this is an unsecured forum and I do not want people to know my true name if at all possible. I will be listing all the sources I used at the end of this chapter so you will be able to gain a better understanding of the class abilities used by reading those books. Also, a little explanation is needed. Lucius Malfoy in my story was never sent to Azkaban.

**Thunderstruck: Chapter 4**

Emotion: (e-mot-ion) _noun._ An intense mental state that arises subjectively rather than through consious effort and is often accompanied by physiological changes; a feeling; the emotions of joy, sorrow, reverence, hate, and love.

Such a cold, logical way of describing something that has irreversibly altered the course of human history countless times. Emotion has been the single greatest contributing factor in human evolution. It has inspired poets, artists, and lovers since time began. Without it, countless works of art, literature, and architecture would never have come into being. William Shakespeare's immortal Romeo and Juliet. The Taj Mahal. At the same time emotion was well known to drive leaders and warriors. The great Trojan War was fought for the sake of one woman, Helen of Troy. And now, a whole new war driven by emotions was in the making. One that would forever alter the course of the world in ways none could predict.

It was a clear, warm Saturday morning. In an abandoned factory in France, emotions were running high. Nervousness, anxiety, shyness, fear, and impatience were radiating from the large group of people who had gathered secretly for a meeting of great importance. On the far left, a group of five teens were talking softly in French. On their right, a brown haired boy with an odd wristwatch was standing with a red headed girl and a man who looked to be their grandfather. The boy was looking over at an Oriental girl with a magenta stripe in her hair as she talked to her grandmother. Gathered around them were a goth/punker girl with two shades of purple hair, a perky blonde with pigtails, a boy with glasses and much "bling", and a rather plump pug who was yelling with a Scottish accent. Next to them, a white and blue robot girl, a tall red haired boy, and a small elderly woman were staring at the dog. Elyon and Caleb were next, looking calm amidst the chaos. A little to their right stood a Chinese boy talking to a tiny elderly Chinese man as a vacent eyed brown haired boy, a sassy black girl, a nervous blonde girl and another talking dog listened intently nearby. And finally, on the far right, was a boy with short, dirty blonde hair tapping his foot impatiently. (Yay, it's me!)

Looking over the madness, Will and the other Guardians were more than a little scared about pulling together this motly crew and forging it into an effective fighting force.

Clapping her hands sharply for attention, Will stepped foward.

"Alright." She started, raising her voice so that everyone could hear her." I want to thank you all for accepting our invitation. This last week, my friends and I have been traveling all over the world to find you all and plead for your help. By now, you all know the reasons we nead you. You have all seen the stories of Jenova and of Harry Potter. Unless we can pull together, Harry will be executed and a madman will be free to destroy all life on Earth. Each of you has vital skills we will need in the times to come. Now, since my friends and I already know all of your names, I hope you'll allow me to introduce you around to the rest of the group."

Recieving nods, she continued.

"Thank you. As I call your name, will you please step foward and give everyone a quick rundown of your skills and achievments? First on my far left and working my way to the far right. First up, Ulrich Stern."

Ulrich was wearing baggy light brown cargo pants and a black t-shirt with the kanji for Ronin printed in a red graffiti patern printed on it.

"Uh, hey, I'm um, Ulrich." He stammered out, nervous at going first. "I'm originally from the United States and I'm fifteen years old. I'm what's called a psychic warrior. All my psionic powers geared towards enhancing my physical stats like my speed, strength, and my senses. My body also adapts itself to any hostile environment. As far as my other abilities go, I'm a swordsman. Together, my friends and I've destroyed an evil computer program called Xana that was trying to kill every human on Earth."

"Okay" Will said. "Next up is Yumi Ishiyama."

Yumi was wearing a pair of tight, artistically ripped Levi's with a chain serving duty as a belt. Her red t-shirt had the kanji for dark angel printed on it in a black slashing pattern. (Don't know Japanese, sorry) A pair of Doc Martins completed the ensemble.

"Hi, I'm Yumi. I was born in Japan and moved here to France about five years ago. I'm sixteen years old. I'm a type of psion called a kineticist. My psionic power allows me to use telekenesis, manipulate energy, and attack with energy blasts. I'm also a martial artist and my favorite weapon is the war fan."

"Jeremy Belpois."

Jeremy was wearing a white button up shirt with a deep blue tie and black slacks.

"Hello, my name is Jeremy and I am a native to France. I am fifteen. I have only recently discovered my telepathic powers, so their not very well developed yet. Beyond that, I am a highly skilled computer programer and hacker."

"Aelita Hopper."

Aelita was wearing a pink skirt that went down to just below her knees with a white shirt, a maroon hoodie, and dark pink tennis shoes.

"Hello, I'm Aelita." She said, smiling shyly. "I am fifteen years old and am native to France. I am what is known as a shaper. My psionic powers are focussed towards metacreativity. I can create semisolid and solid objects like weapons, barriers, and animated constructs to do battle for me. I am also skilled in computer programing."

"Odd Della Robia."

Odd was wearing a purple vest over a bright red shirt. His purple pants were flared at the bottems of the legs resembling bell-bottems. His rather ugly dog, Kiwi, stood faithfully at his master's side.

Hey, I'm Odd. I'm fifteen and I'm French. I'm a seer. My psionic powers involve clairsentience. I can see into the future, the past, can spy on people here in the present and can locate just about anything. I'm very agile and have started to use a bo staff in combat. Beyond that, I've got a great singing voice." His friends just grin and shake their heads.

"Max Tennyson."

Grandpa Max was wearing his usual Hawian shirt with faded blue jeans and sandles.

"Hello, I'm Max. I'm fifty-eight years old and from the United States. I'm a retired...um...well, alien hunter I guess. My former partner and I worked under the codename "The Plumbers". I am proficient with top secret military and alien weaponry."

"Ben Tennyson."

Ben wore a red t-shirt with black pants and white and black tennis shoes.

"Hey everyone, I'm Ben. I'm from America and I just turned fifteen. This thing on my arm's called the Omnitrix. It lets me turn into a bunch of different aliens, each with their own special abilities. I used it to beat down a wannabe galactic overlord called Vilgax."

"Gwen Tennyson."

Gwen was wearing a light blue and white shirt that bore a cat face printed on it, with a pair of tight light blue pants that seemed to enhance her now shapely legs.

"Hi, I'm Gwen. I'm fifteen and am from America. I am also known as Lucky Girl." Holds up her wrist to display the manacle bearing a familiar charm. "This is the Keystone of Bezel. It enhances my strength, agility, speed, and makes random events go in my favor. As Lucky Girl I have beaten several crazy magicians and have helped my cousin Ben beat his enemies."

"Jasmine Lee."

Jamsine wore her customary purple and red full length dress/robe.

"Hello everyone. I am Jasmine from America. Never ask for a lady's age unless you want to be shoved fave first into a gopher-hole. HAH! I'm the former Te Xuan Ze, having passed that duty on to my granddaughter, Juniper. We Te Xuan Ze serve as the defenders and mediators of the Orchid Bay community of magical beings. I know a great deal about creatures rarely seen even by wizards."

"Juniper Lee."

June wore a tight light green top with her dragonfly emblazoned on it, with a pair of baggy Wranglers and well polished black boots.

"Hi, just call me June. I'm fifteen years old and am the current and youngest Te Xuan Ze ever. I am schooled in three types of martial arts, have enhanced strength and can use an alternate type of spell casting that few, if any wizards know about. I've faced revived mummies, ancient monsters, and even the Norse God Loki."

"Monroe."

"Ach, I'm Monroe. I serve as June's teacher, assistant and advisor in her role as the Te Xuan Ze. My age is none o' yer flippen bussiness!"

"Ophelia Ramirez."

Ophelia was wearing a form fitting black shirt with a fanged skull learing from it. Her tight, black pants were dripping with chains and her solid steel toed boots tapped the ground impatiently.

"Like, hello, or whatever. I'm Ophelia, and I'm fifteen years old. I specialize in two types of shadow magic. My shadowsmith abilities allow me to create weapons from pure darkness while my shadow blade abilities let me wrap myself in shadows and see perfectly in complete darkness. I prefer to use twin shortswords."

"Judy Irwin."

Judy wore a cheerfull yellow dress that went down to her knees with yellow slipper/shoes.

"Hi, I'm Judy." Big perky smile. "I'm fifteen years old. I am training to be a doctor and just got certified as a paramedic. I really can't fight at all though, sorry."

"Roger Radcliffe."

"Hey guys, I'm Roger. Woah, just about everyone's fifteen, huh? Well, I am too!" Grins. "I'm a kind of psion called a wilder. My emotions fuel my power instead of the usual mental focus of other psions."

"Ooookay. Uh..Nora Wakeman."

Dr. Wakeman was wearing her usual dark yellow labcoat/dress/whatever the hell it is.

"Hello everyone, I am Doctor Wakeman. As my age is nobody's concern, I'll be moving right along. I am an expert in the fields of robotics and cybernetic surgery. I have created many advanced robots and weapons including much of what the aformentioned Plumbers used. Though my greatest creation to date is my daughter, Jenny."

"Jennifer Wakeman."

"Hey everyone, I'm Jenny AKA Global Defense Unit XJ9. My real age doesn't matter since I have the mind of a sixteen year old. I've beaten too many monsters, aliens and enemy robots to count. I'm also loaded with all the best weapons that my mom could build."

"Brad Carbunkle."

Brad wore a pair of dark brown cargo pants with a black t-shirt that had a red skull and crosswrenches as a variation of the traditional pirate's flag.

"Hi, I'm Brad and I'm sixteen years old. My specialities are engineering and automotive design and mechanics. There isn't a vehicle out there that I can't fix."

"Caleb."

Caleb was wearing a brand new pair of Levi's and a simple blue t-shirt in an attempt for him to blend in with Earth's humans.

"Hi, I'm Caleb. I'm sixteen years old and am the Herald of Candracar. I was once a rebel leader revolting against Prince Phobos the former usurper of the Throne of Meridian. I am a soulknife. My psionic abilities allow me to create knives and swords made of my own psychic energy."

"Elyon Brown."

The young queen wore white robes of the most delicate silk immaginable along with the Crown of Light displayed proudly upon her brow.

"Hello, I'm Elyon. I am fifteen years old and am the rightfull queen of Meridian. I have many magical abilities, far to many to list right now. I can offer Meridian itself as a place to withdraw and rest in case things go badly. I can also serve as an ambassador to many magical creatures like the goblins, or the Minestry of magic should they ever straighten themselves out."

"Luong Lao Shi."

The old man wore his usual blue robes.

"Hello, I am Loa Shi ." He bowed to the group. "I am sixty-three years old and am actually a True-Dragon, like my grandson, Jake. In my day, I have defeated enemies far too numerous and various to mention. I am also a skilled martial arts instructer, and offer training to this group's benifit."

"Jake Long."

Jake was wearing baggy tan shorts, a red t-shirt that had a traditional Chinese dragon printed on it, and white and blue Vans skateboard shoes.

"Yo, wuddup all? I'm Jake, the American Dragon. I can turn into a dragon, shape-shift into other people, fly, spit fire, the whole nine yards. My friends 'n' me beat the Dark Dragon, and are right now working on taking down the Huntsclan."

"Rose Whitman." (Last name of the voice actor).

Rose was wearing a white belly shirt with a pink heart stitched on it with pink pants with lace frills at the bottems of the legs.

"Hello, I'm Rose. I'm fifteen and a former member of the Huntsclan. I was trained almost from birth as a ninja. As such, I am able to hold my own in armed and unarmed combat. My favorite weapon is the glaive."

"Trixie Carter."

Trixie was wearing a dark purple hoodie over a white t-shirt. Baggy light-brown cargo pants were held up with a studded black belt. On her feet were a pair of dark purple tennis-shoes.

"Hey all, I'm Trixie and I'm fifteen. I've been learning Dragon style Kung Fu from Lao Shi. My uncle Jonny's a pilot and he's been teaching me everything he knows about flying. At this point I can fly helicopters and small planes but I'l be flying the big stuff pretty soon."

"Arthur Spudinski."

Spud was wearing a deep blue t-shirt with the sentence "I do very bad things... and I do them very well" emblazoned on it. His blue jeans had numerous rips and tears all over them.

"Hey dudes, uh, just call me Spud. Kay? I'm, uh, fifteen years old. Lao Shi's been teaching me Drunkin Boxing. Other than that, I'm pretty much a wheel man. I can drive any car, van, or truck ever built easily."

"Uh..Foo Dog."

"Hiya folks, I'm Foo Dog. I've been around for about six hundred years. I've got a lot of usefull contacts in the magical creature community and I give pretty good advice too."

"And finally, Danny Mitchel."

Danny was wearing a pair of baggy, faded Wrangler blue jeans held up by a black belt with a skull-shaped buckle. His red t-shirt had a picture of a pump-action shotgun above the words "Zombie Repellent". Over the shirt was a light-weight desert camouflage jacket. His black steel toed boots had obviously seen a lot of use. A worn, dark blue backpack crammed fit to burst was sitting at his feet.

"Hey, I'm Danny and I'm fifteen years old. When I was twelve, I was kidnapped by the Umbrella Corperation and genetically altered to be the perfect killing machine. The less said about that, the better. I have enhanced strength, senses, and a regenerative healing ability that allows me to recover from just about any wound. As far as weapons go, I prefer handguns and can hit anything I can see."

"Okay, thank you all for your patience." Will said as she stepped foward again. "Later on, we'll have a chance to really get to know each other. But for now, we have to start planning. The execution is in about three weeks, and we have to be ready by then. But what we need now is accurate information. The Oracle gave us what he had, but it wasn't much. So we're going to start out by gathering intel. A few of us will be going to Diagon Alley and Hogsmead. Elyon, Caleb, Ulrich, Yumi, Ben, June, Cornelia, and Taranee will be going to Diagon Alley. Elyon is the only one who can get you past the wall behind the Leaky Cauldron with her powers. Jeremy, Aeilita, Jake, Rose, Gwen, Danny, Irma, and Hay Lin will be going to Hogsmead. We have been able to get our hands on some wizarding money for both groups so you will all be able to pose as casual muggleborn shoppers. For those going to Diagon Alley, your job is to gather info on the exact date and time of the execution, as well as whatever details may be relevent to our job. Use whatever way you can to get it. Newspaper, gossip, whatever. We need that info! The same goes for those going to Hogsmead. Your job will be to gather info on security measures, and the layout of the execution area, as well as anything else you can find out. Remember to avoid a lot of attention. Talk to people, but don't give them any reason to be suspicious of you. By now, you know enough of the Wizarding World so that won't be too much of a problem. But be carefull all the same. Once you've finished, retreat to a secure location and call my cellphone so I can pick you up. While your doing that, the rest of us will be setting up a temporary HQ in Meridian. Once we have Harry and he's all healed up though, we'll have to find some place here on Earth to use as a base of opperations. Some place the Ministry of Magic and Dumbledore won't be able to trace us."

Looking around at all the determined faces, Will nodded her head in grim satisfaction.

"Alright people, we have a lot of things to do and not a lot of time to do it in. So let's get goin!"

Author's note: Okay, that's it for chapter four. I know it was pretty much just a bunch of introductions but I didn't want to have to describe the Guardians finding and meeting all these people. Ya know, I'll probably skip right to the breakout next. This fic is already taking more time than I thought it would even though my chapters are shorter than many of the fics I've seen. I guess you can blame this on my inexperience as a fanfic writer. Or you can just call me a slow, easily destracted screwball. That works too. You know, bills, work, family. It's a huge hassle. I never seem to get the time I want to work on this mess. Oh well. Anyway I promised I would list the source books I used to get the powers for the characters in this fic. So here it is. I tried to be as true to the characters as possible, particularly in the case of the Code Lyoko crew. Their powers while in Lyoko corresponded greatly with the different schools of psions in the book. In Jeremy's case I had to make him a telepath even though he has no powers on the show. I figured it was the most usefull power for him to have. I may be giving the characters prestige classes later on as they become more experienced with their powers.

Expanded Psionics Handbook; printed by Wizards of the Coast.

Ulrich (Code Lyoko): Psychic Warrior

Yumi (Code Lyoko): Psion(Kineticist)

Jeremy (Code Lyoko): Psion(Telepath)

Aelita (Code Lyoko): Psion(Shaper)

Odd (Code Lyoko): Psion(Seer) (No, not the stupid kind of seer like Trelawny)

Caleb (W.I.T.C.H.): Soulknife

Roger (Life and Times of Juniper Lee): Wilder

Tome of Magic; printed by Wizards of the Coast (Pact, Shadow, and Truename Magic)

Ophelia (Life and Times of Juniper Lee): Shadowblade/Shadowsmith

Hermione (Harry Potter): Truenamer

I will also be taking weapons, and tech from various books and games whenever I need to. I will list those sources as well. As always, I would like to thank those who were kind enough to review. Any creative criticism is appreciated. So, untill next time, this is Uchiha Ninja signing off. See ya later!


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own Harry Potter, W.I.T.C.H., Final Fantasy 7, Final fantasy 7 Advent Children, Final Fantasy 7 Dirge of Cerberus, Code Lyoko, Ben10, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, American Dragon Jake Long, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Resident Evil, Shadowrun RPG, Dungeons & Dragons, Starship Troopers RPG, Various D20 sources, any of the characters therein, or whatever else the reader may recognize as coming from a TV show, movie, comic book, book, or music video. This story is going to be a huge crossover as well as a self insert fic. It's written for the enjoyment of others in mind and not for any personal profit. Well, I really have no money anyway, so it would be pretty pointless to sue, huh?

Warning: The following story contains graphic descriptions of torture, mutilation, intense violence, and sexuality (yeah, I finally decided). For safety's sake, this fic is rated M.

Author's note: Some of you may note that in my last chapter many of the characters that I'm bringing into this fic have little or no actual "powers". Well this is because I believe that even without powers, their contributions to the war will be just as important as anyone elses. Like Judy's medical abilities, Trixie's piloting skills, or Brad's mechanical skills. Also, the pairings are going to be apparent fairly soon. Just don't start makin fun of me for pairing myself up with the girl I feel is the most attractive, okay? Also, Lucius Malfoy was identified as a Deatheater, but had escaped before the ministry could arrest him. Snape is no longer a member of Voldemort's inner circle so he doesn't know that Harry is innocent. And finally,as far as I am concerned, the W.I.T.C.H. girls should all be able to fly. Not just Hay Lin as it says in the books and comics.

**Thunderstruck: Chapter 5**

**Hogsmead**

From high above, it looked like a single, amorphous organism. The way it writhed and undulated would remind most people of a miniscule creature that they might observe through the eyepiece of a microscope. However, the closer one gets to the ground, it becomes increasingly apparent that this was a gathering of an incredably huge number of people. Sound comes to the observer's attention first. The cliche dull roar that any large group of people will generate. Parents shouting after their likewise shouting children. Stall propriaters trying to sell their wares at the tops of their lungs. Mothers trying to sooth their crying babies. It was almost deafening. Next comes smell. The unmistakable tang of sweat in the summer heat. The perfume of the ladies trying to disguise said sweat. The enticing aromas wafting from the myriad food carts and stalls. Finally, came sight. Brightly colored decorations, banners, and flags were everywhere. Everyone who had come to the festival had arrived in creative and garish costumes. Medieval knights rubbed elbows with walking sunflowers. Jesters walked arm in arm with pirates. Renaissance nobles danced with princesses. It was chaos for the senses.

The throng was, as a whole, in very high spirits. People were smiling and laughing as if there were nothing at all wrong with the world. In one area, a stage had been constructed on which a band played a lively dancing tune as men led their giggling ladies around the dance floor that had been set up. Nearby, food and wine stalls were doing brisk business as the long rows of picnic tables were filled to capacity with hungry patrons. Over on the other side of the immense plaza were a long row of magical carnival games where teeming masses of children competed for prizes. And finally, on the northernmost end of the plaza was the chopping block where the executioner was dressed as the Grim Reaper. Underneath the joy, however, was something else. It was barely perceptable. Like a lingering odor after one has cleaned out the fridge, it seemed to taint the whole proceedings. Only after much deliberation would one be capable of properly identifying it.

Bloodlust. It fairly permeated the entire area with an unholy aura. Will shivered slightly. It was absolutely maddening. The way the crowd was celebrating this...atrocity was...

"Obscene." Will whispered to herself.

"What was that?" Irma asked, also whispering from where she stood at Will's side. Will just _looked_ at her, eyes shining dully with disgust. "Oh." After pausing to looked abashed for a second, she pulled Will close. "Better not let anyone see your reaction to all this. It would be kinda hard to explain."

Nodding in appreciation, Will plastered a small, casual smile on as the Guardians made their way through the crowd, leaving a trail of drooling young men and angry girlfriends in their wake. Needless to say, they were definitely drawing looks wherever they went. Every member of the operation at the festival was in costume so that when they struck, the aurors wouldn't be able to identify them. Will would occasionally spot them mingling with the crowd. Every one of their costumes had been created by the royal seamstresses and other artisans that Elyon employed for her court. The girls were garbed in their usual Guardian clothing with the addition of small but tastfully done butterfly masks to disguise their features from the public. Ulrich and Yumi were resplendant as a fully armoured samurai and his geisha consort as they strode gracefully through the crowd. Ben, in his hooded fourteenth century monk's robes, sat talking with June who was dressed in a rather revealing ninja girl costume at one of the picnic tables, the remnants of a modest meal laying between them. Jake, as a fully equiped Roman centurion was standing with Lao Shi, who was dressed in very formal Chinese nobleman's robes as they watched, grinning, as Jenny, in a full body teddy bear costume, was entertaining a group of children. At the rear of the crowd were Odd and Rose who were dressed as a knight and a catgirl respectively. Brad, and Danny were not quite as evident as the others, but they had very special roles to perform today.

"Hey, look over there" Hay Lin pointed off to their left.

The Guardians saw a very oppulant spectator's box standing a short distance from and facing the chopping block. Sitting in their well cushioned seats and being waited upon by servants were Albus Dumbledore, Minister Fudge, Professor Snape, and Ron and Ginny Wea- ummm, Dumbledore. They were waving casually to the people in the crowd who were greeting them and talking amongst themselves as they awaited the "main event". The smug looks on the faces of Snape, Ron and Ginny made Will want to retch, especially when she saw so many young men trying to catch Ginny's eye, though she carefully disciplined her expression. Looking at her watch, Will saw that it was about twelve minutes untill showtime. Glancing from side to side, she touched a very small, ornate controll panel on her belt.

"Hey, Jeremy, Aelita, final systems check. How's that sensor net you two rigged up for us?" she whispered into thin air.

Back in the underground computer controll room of the factory in France, Jeremy and Aelita were carefully monitering all the communications and tactical information coming from the festival. Even though the main HQ was in Meridian for the moment, the super computer was a resource that was far to valuable to be left just sitting around.

After a great deal of experimentation, it had been discovered that it wasn't actually magic itself that interfered with muggle technology. Rather, it was the huge amounts of raw electromagnetic energy that magic created. Once this had been discovered, it was pretty much child's play to create tech that would function perfectly in highly magical areas, as well as modify Jenny so that she would operate perfectly. Over the last month, the whole group had managed to unobtrusively plant numerous sensors and communication relays throughout the entire village of Hogsmead. This way, they had ample warning of changes in the battlefield and could remain in constant contact with everyone else. The radios that Doctor Wakeman had created were simply brilliant. A single ear bud was all that was required to both hear and speak with. As she had explained, the vibrations in their jaws that was caused by speaking were measured as they reached the radios in their ears, was translated and transmitted immediately to everyone elses via the transmitters planted throughout the village. Unfortunately, due to their exceptionally small size, their range was severely limited. Hence the transmitters.

"Comencing final systems check." Jeremy responded as he and Aelita began typing furiously into their consoles. The controll room had changed greatly during the past two years after the final defeat of Xana. There were now two computer controll consoles rotating around the central holosphere. Schematics and blue prints were neatly arranged on the walls as a row of battered filing cabinets containing many more stood as a line of sentinals along one wall. Several couches and chairs lined another wall on which lounged Roger, Foo Dog, Jasmine Lee, and Monroe. Since there wasn't much for them to do in Meridian, they decided to watch the action from the controll room. A small refridgerator was sitting next to the couches filled with various sodas. On the whole, it was looking more and more like a kid's dream clubhouse. The holosphere, which once displayed a map of Lyoko, now showed an extremely detailed map of Hogsmead. The people were depicted as dots color-coded to display levels of threat. Green ones were children, orange ones were adult civilians, red ones were aurors and other ministry lackeys, the blue ones were the the team members chosen for the operation, and a single black one depicted Albus Dumbledore.

"All systems are functioning at nominal levels Will" Aelita said after several minutes. "Everythings ready to go at our end."

"Okay. Alright everybody, report in. Are you all ready?"

In response to Will's question, answering musical tones sounded in her ear as each team member gave their signals in the specific order they had practiced, each person waiting for their turn to give their signal. It was simply too suspicious for them to be talking into thin air, as they couldn't always pretend to be talking to their friends as Will had done.

"Alright, start moving into position" she whispered. "Odd, Rose, get ready for your part. Danny, Brad, you know what to do. Remember everyone, don't kill anyone unless you absolutely have to. These aurors are still good guys even if they are disgustingly misguided. But if you have to, don't hesitate. Okay, you all know your cue. Lets get this done."

Over on the chopping block's platform, Danny, and Brad, disguised as the executioner and the priest, glanced at each other and nodded. The costumes had been easy to come by as all they had to do was mug the priest and the executioner, leave them tied up in their hotel rooms, and take their places. Luckily, the priest and the executioner had been almost exactly their sizes which made the ruse exceptionally easy. The Grim Reaper facepaint on Danny and the Priests wide brimmed hat and high collar on Brad had ensured the two could not be recognized.

Several minutes later, the crowd at one end of the Plaza roared with exitement. The cart carrying Harry Potter was making it's way to the chopping block surrounded by at least fourty aurors as the people began to hurl things at him. As they got closer, the young gaurillas saw that since he had been unable to stand, he had been strapped to a post built into the cart so that the crowd could see him. His condition was even worse than what they had previously seen in the Oracle's visions. The tattered, filthy prisoners robes hung loosely on his thinning frame, and a dirty strip of cloth was tied around his empty eyesockets concealing them from view. Strangely enough, Harry had a small, oddly amused smile on his face, as though oblivious of any discomfort. Will knew that look. It was the look of a man who knew something no one else did. Smiling, she touched the controll panel on her belt again.

"Odd, Rose. Begin" she whispered. "Max, stand by with your team."

"Roger that" came the voice of Max Tennyson over the radio.

Over on the other side of the plaza, Odd and Rose began to move towards an archway between two shops where an elegant carriage stood, with six magnificient, pure white horses hitched to it.

Jonathan Sullivan was bored. He hadn't expected to be bored. When the young auror had been told that it was to be his honor to drive Minister Fudge, Professor Snape, the great Albus Dumbledore, and Dumbledore's new family to the festival in the minister's brand new carriage he had been ecstatic. He had a new uniform tailored just for him and he was groomed from head to foot. Hair freshly cut and washed. Boots spit shined. Brass buttons polished. The whole nine yards. When he had dropped off the five in front of a cheering crowd, he had been told to park the carriage under this archway and to not let it out of his sight for a moment. So here he was. He had been cooling his heals in his seat for the better part of two and a half hours. Everyone else was having the time of their lives while he-.

"Hey you!" someone shouted at him. "What the hell are you doing there man? The big events about to start!"

Picking his head up from where he had been laying back in his seat, he saw a young man dressed in a very convincing suit of armor alternately waving at him and looking back over his shoulder at the chopping block.

"I can't leave the carriage, got strict orders from the minister himself." he half shouted back.

"So? The minister's got his attention focused on Potter now. He won't know."

"I don't know. I'd like to but-"

"Look, mate. A chance like this don't come along just any day, does it? You wanna be able to tell your grandkids all about how you saw the execution of a killer like Potter, don't you? Just watch from over here in front of the arch and no one can say you weren't doing your job, okay?" retorted the young man as he peered out at Jonathen from his closed visor.

Jonathan thought about it for a moment. The kid had a point. As long as he could keep one eye on the carriage and horses, and got to see a piece of history, everyone was happy.

"Hey, you're right." he said, climbing down from his seat and and began walking foward to thank the boy who had been so kind as to point this out to him. Just as he reached the front of the archway, a fast movement off to right caught his eye. Poor Jonathin barely had time to jerk his head around as a fist came flashing out to meet his jaw and sent him straight to Dreamland.

Moving swiftly, Odd and Rose picked the poor sod up and carried him back into the archway before anyone could notice them.

"Let's just leave him behind those crates," Rose suggested. "He'll be out of it for at least fifteen to twenty minutes so we've got enough time. To bad about them raising those wards at the last minute, though. At least we found out about them before we managed to screw up."

"Yeah, I know. If not for that, Will could just have created a portal straight to Meridian. Good thing Fudge's got an ego the size of China what with this fancy coach'n'all. It gives us a new escape route." Odd grinned. "Should be pretty fun too."

After they stuck the man behind the designated crates, Odd climbed onto the driver's seat as Rose jumped inside the carriage. The carriage itself was a work of art. Ornately carved and gilded, it projected an aura of elegence and influence. Fifteen feet long from driver's seat to rear luggage rack, it was incredibly spacious, capable of carrying eight people very comfortably. With a small wetbar inside as well as a small, magically cooled icebox, and very well padded seats, it ensured that any long trip would be made in complete luxury.

Back at the chopping block, things were getting pretty loud, not to mention very messy. The mass of spectators were throwing conviently placed fruit and vegetables at Harry. He took it all rather well though, never shouting out or even frowning. Rather, his head was held high and his back completely straight despite his being lashed to the post. He had not allowed himself to slouch even once. The crowd was, of course, oblivious to this show of quiet dignity. Instead, they continued to shout epithets and hurl garbage at him.

As they reached the platform, two of the aurors climbed into the cart. One grabbed Harry's remaining arm as the other cut the bonds keeping him in place. They then dragged Harry down to the ground and up the steps to the chopping block as the rest of the aurors surrounded the platform to keep the crowd back. After forcing Harry into a kneeling position and looping a rope around his neck to keep him in place, they stood back as the "priest" and "executioner" stepped foward and waited for Dumbledore's speach.

Casting a sonorus on himself, Professor Dumbledore began.

"Witches and Wizards, I must welcome you to this important event. Let History itself show that it was upon this day that we took a stand against the darkness. This is the day that we stood together and declared that we would not tolerate those who would harm our loved ones and enslave us all. This is the day we stopped a young killer from becoming a dark wizard. Today is the begining of our offensive against evil! They had better pray that the Gods are forgiving, for we are not! Begin the last rites of the condemned!"

At the crowd's cheer, Dumbledore sat down again as Ron and Ginny leaned foward eagerly. Snape looked like he was about to orgasm on the spot. Danny and Brad stepped foward. Kneeling next to Harry so that only they could hear what was being said, Brad started to speak to him as Danny began to prepare the axe.

"Fear not, my son, for thou art not alone. As decreed by the Guardians of the Veil, true justice shall be done. Allies surround thee. True friends who have been burning to meet thee and heal thy wounds. Be brave and true to thy Gryffindor heart."

After mumbling a bit longer in faux Latin, Brad got up and moved off to the side while Harry struggled to supress a small smile. It was finally happening! He just wished that he had eyes so that he could see the look on Dumbledore's face when he got away.

As Danny stepped foward, he bent down and started wiping the flat of the axe blade with a damp cloth. Glancing quite casually at Harry, he leaned over slightly to say something.

"Ya know, this axe was a gift to me from the Oracle of Candracar."

Okay, now Harry was **really** having a hard time keeping a straight face. This was just too good to be true.

"You may begin." called Minister Fudge from his seat. Nodding to him, Danny stepped next to Harry and shouldered the axe. Shifting his grip to that of a baseball player, he then brought the flat of the axehead smashing into the face of the auror guard standing behind him, smashing the man's nose flat and knocking him unconsious. At the same time, Brad flipped open the Bible he had been carrying, to reveal that the pages were actually blank. They were also cut out into the the perfect shape to hold the Czech CZ 75 double action handgun Danny had lent him, hiding within. Drawing it, he blasted the kneecaps of the other guard standing just behind him. The audience gasped as the auror screamed in agony. Dumbledore leaped to his feet and began to draw his wand.

He never got his chance though, as twin roars erupted from the front of the crowd and two **dragons, **one red and the other blue leaped into the air spewing fire from where two humans once stood. About ten feet to their left, a huge, red, four-armed **something** burst from a monks costume and charged the platform. A second after that, a samurai, a geisha, and a ninja girl began bowling over aurors left and right as five young women flew into the sky on fairy-like wings and started jetting towards the platform.

Professor Dumbledore had almost gotten his wand out when the person in the strange teddy bear costume he had noticed earlier leaped fifteen feet into the air, landed on the stage and pointed their arms directly at the spectator's box. A second later, the paws of the costume were ripped to shreds revealing two large, blue and white cylindrical objects with eight holes running along their outer edges. Dumbledore's eyes widened as the cylinders began to spin and spew out blasts of what looked like red light straight at him. Grabbing Ron and Ginny, he threw them down onto the floor and dove for cover himself as the blasts began to sweep systematically over their heads, ripping ragged lines of holes in the rear wall of the box. Snape tried to jump to his feet, but managed to flip his chair onto it's back with him still in it. The minister barely threw himself down in time to avoid the torrent of tracer fire from the gatling guns before it would have ripped him in half. Self serving prat though he might be, there was nothing wrong with his survival instincts. Typical politician. Ron and Ginny simply screamed in terror as they covered their heads with their arms. They were trapped. They couldn't raise their heads at all for fear of losing them. And they couldn't get out as the only way into the booth was through the front. They were completely cut off.

When faced with so many unexpected, unknown, and evidently hostile beings, one has two choices. Either stand up and fight like true warriors, or run screaming like little sissies. Guess which option the crowd chose. Mothers and fathers grabbed their children as they all ran screaming to escape the mayhem. Leaving possessions behind and knocking over tables and even booths in their frantic stampede, it was a complete miracle that no one was trampled in the confusion.

The element of surprise was total and overwhelming as the guerillas began to overpower the aurors. Ulrich was slashing wands in half with his katana like there was no tomorrow as Yumi blew opponents away with her telekenetic blasts. Jake and Lao Shi were dive-bombing aurors while Ben, as Fourarms, and June started grabbing aurors and throwing them around like rag dolls. The other four Guardians were attacking with their own respective elements as Will landed on the platform to free Harry. Danny, having discarded the axe and drawn his own handgun (an AMT Longslide Hardballer) began to cover Will and Harry along with Brad. Within minutes, all the aurors were down, either wounded, knocked out, or both.

"Is everyone okay?" Will asked. Recieving nods from the rest of the team, she turned her attention to Harry. Laying one hand tenderly on his cheek, she looked closely at his wounds. "Damn, this is worse than we thought. How are you feeling, Harry?" She had to speak rather loudly to be heard over the sound of Jenny's gatling guns, which were still keeping Dumbledore and Snape pinned down.

Harry was momentarily stunned. He knew that voice! But how the Hell was that possible? The only times he had ever heard her was when he dreamed at night. Only while he was being held by his mysterious red-haired angel as she whispered words of hope, courage, and love into his ears.

Shaking himself out of his reverie, Harry struggled to answer.

"Um, uh, well I wish I could say that I've felt worse, but that isn't true at all. If it wasn't for the knowledge of your coming, I probably wouldn't have made it this far." Embarrased by the rather intimate contact, he had to struggle to get the words out. "I just wish I could see you. For some reason, your voice sounds really familiar to me."

Now blushing badly, Will responded. "Listen. Don't worry about that for now. You'll understand why later on."

Suddenly, Jeremy's voice crackled through the radio. "Will! About thirty aurors are closing in on your position from the east! They've got brooms! You have to get out of there right now!"

At that moment, the thunder of hoofbeats was heard as the carriage, driven by Odd, pulled up to the platform. Throwing the door open, Rose reached out for Harry. With her help, Will managed to get the poor boy into the carriage without jarring him too badly.

"Okay, you heard the man!" Will shouted. "Those who can fly, do so! Those who can't, get in! Jenny, get up on top, we need you to cover our rear till we meet up with Max and the others. Remember, the edge of the wards is about a mile and a half outside of town, so we're not in the clear yet."

Brad, Danny, Ulrich, Yumi, and June crammed into the carriage with Rose and Harry. The Guardians, Jake, Lao Shi, and Ben (who took a moment to transform into Stinkfly) took back to the air. Jenny stopped firing to leap on top of the carriage.

Taking advantage of the lull in the firing, Dumbledore peered over the top of the spectator box's wall. Seeing his opportunity, he fired a quick reductor curse at the giant teddy bear who had fired upon him before. Transforming her left gatling gun back into her hand and grabbing onto the railing that ran around the roof, Jenny was momentarily stunned as something ricocheted off the back of her costumed head. Turning back to see Dumbledore gaping in shock, she pointed her right gatling gun at him and began to fire again, forcing Dumbledore to dive once more under cover.

"Go man, go!" she shouted at Odd.

With a snap of the reins, they were off. The horses were obviously not your garden variety plow pullers, as they went from a stand still to at least thirty mph in maybe ten seconds. Thundering through the now deserted streets of Hogsmead, the carriage careened wildly around corners as they struggled to get out of town as fast as they could, the Guardians, Dragons, and Stinkfly keeping pace to protect them and their precious cargo. Inside, Rose and June made Harry as comfortable as possible on the floor since they couldn't risk him falling off one of the seats. The others were sitting on the seats taking a breather.

Suddenly, Danny's eyes were caught by the wetbar and icebox. Blinking in surprise that such things would be in a horse drawn carriage, he decided to open the wetbar, curiosity haven gotten the better of him. Opening the cabinet, he was astounded to find not only booze, but to find a small chest holding at least a thousand galleons.

"Hey! What the Hell is this?" he called to the others. After pulling it out to show them, he jingled a few coins. "Is the minister a man of the people, or a man of gold?"

Guessing what Danny held, Harry snorted. "Pffft! Why should that surprise you, given what you know about him now? Hell, I'd roll my eyes at you if I could."

Looking back at the chest, Danny scowled and threw the coins back into the chest in disgust. Turning his attention back to the alcohol, he picked a bottle of firewhiskey and pulled the cork with his teeth.

"What the Hell do you think your doing?" exclamed a surprised Rose, her cat's ears askew on her head. "We don't need you getting drunk! Put that back now."

"Hey, I can't get drunk." Danny shot back, as he returned to his seat and took a pull from the bottle. "At most, I can get a small buzz goin and that's it. My body metabolizes this shit like water. Even so, it'll take far more than what's here to make me feel any different at all. I'm just thirsty, okay?" He was about to take another drink, when a bright red light flashed through the window and collided with the bottle. Suddenly finding himself drenched in whiskey, shattered glass, and holding the bottle's broken neck, Danny's eyes shot to the window and saw an auror pulling up to alongside with a wand pointed at them.

"Dammit! That was a perfectly good bottle a' whiskey ya asshole!" he shouted at the man as he drew his sidearm and fired off a shot. The bullet sped from the barrel and blasted through the middle of the broom the auror was riding. The look on the man's face as he fell from the two pieces of broomstick was one of complete incredulousness at the precision of the shot.

"They've surrounded us!" shouted Jenny from the roof of the carriage as they left the last of the village's buildings behind them. They were now passing small copses of trees along the roadside. "I've got my hands full protecting Odd, and the others are dogfighting with the Aurors!" she continued.

"Crap!" Brad spit out, eyes wide. Jumping from his seat, he sped to the other side of the carriage and drawing his handgun, began taking potshots at the aurors.

"Hey, June! Ulrich! Yumi! Give us a hand will ya!" Danny said, tossing two guns to June and Ulrich. June's was a huge revolver. A Colt King Cobra. Hefting the magnum revolver, June looked unsure.

"I've never used one before!" she told him.

"It's alright. It's got a huge kick, but with your strength, you can handle it easy. The point isn't really to hit them. It's to keep 'em off us 'til Will can open the portal!" He responded, tossing her a few quickloaders full of ammo.

Looking somewhat molified, June rushed to the rear window, and crouching on her knees on the seat, began to shoot at the pursuers. Ulrich got a Czech CZ 75 automatic like the one Brad was using and went to join Brad. Yumi went to join June and, using her telekenetic powers, began grabbing aurors and slamming them into each other. Rose stayed down to make sure Harry didn't get hurt by sliding around from the rough ride.

Weaving through the air above the carriage, the flyers were having a hard time keeping the aurors away from their prey. Taranee has hurling fireball after fireball at any auror near her while Hay Lin was blowing them from their brooms. Will, Cornelia, and Irma, limited by the fact that they were airborn, moving, and were unable to use their powers in the air like this, couldn't do much more than dodge the spells being fired at them. The other flyers were also having trouble with the speed and numbers of their opponents. Jake and Lao Shi were setting fire to any broom they could. Ben, still as Stinkfly, was spitting a gooey, green ichor at aurors faces to blind them. They were doing their best, but there was simply too many opponents for them to handle alone. Will soon saw the spot where the other team lay hiding in wait in a copse of trees. Activating her radio quickly, she shouted her message.

"MAX! GET OUT HERE NOW! WE'RE COMING UP ON YOUR POSITION AND WE NEED HELP YESTERDAY!"

Within his tree concealed RV, Max winced at the sound of fear in Will's voice. As he started the engine, he called over his shoulder to Gwen, Ophelia, Trixie, and Caleb who were sitting at the table, manning small computer weapons consoles.

"Okay, remember. Let the targeting computers do most of the work. All you have to is pick your targets and fire." Looking over at Spud in the passenger's seat, he asked, "You ready?"

Spud, looking like a nervious wreck, just nodded, his hands on the weapons console that was formerly concealed in the dashboard. Chuckling, Max just shook his head.

"Don't worry, you'll do just fine. Now let's do this."

Starting the engine, Max gunned it untill he saw the carriage pass their hiding place. With a mighty roar, the RV burst from the tree line and began to closely follow the carriage. Startled by this new enemy, the auror in comand stared as panels slid open on the muggle vehicle and tubes popped out of the revealed openings. Moments later, they began spewing lasers at the aurors giving chase. The results were immediate as the tables turned in favor of the fleeing guerillas as auror after auror was knocked from the sky, either wounded or having had their brooms destroyed. The six that were left in the air, backed off a ways, so that while not an immediate threat, they were still following and tracking their enemies.

Will breathed a sigh of relief as the flyers tightened formation back around the carriage. Keeping a carefull watch on the remaining aurors behind them, she soon saw the piles of stones they had made earlier in the week to mark the edges of the wards. The moment they were past the markers, she grabbed the Heart of Candracar from around her neck and with a huge grin, summoned a portal to Meridian.

The aurors still in the air pulled to a frantic stop in shock. This was something none of them had ever seen before. There was nothing they could do as the carriage, flyers, and the strange muggle vehicle barreled through the strange, whirling circle of light and disappeared without a trace. A second later, the circle itself vanished. After staring at the spot for a few minutes, the lead auror slumped and muttered "Bugger, the Ministers not going to be happy about this."

**Meridian**

Now galloping through the streets of the town just below the Royal Palace of Meridian, the young warriors found the streets were clearing quickly as the people leaped aside to make way for the two strange vehicles. Apparently, word had been spread about the mission and no one wanted to be in the way of something this important. Especially as it involved the Guardians of the Veil, the saviors of their queen. As they pulled up to the palace and everyone began landing, and piling out of the carriage and RV, Queen Elyon, Dr. Wakeman and Judy ran out of the front doors followed by several guards bearing a stretcher. Harry was gently lowered to the ground and placed onto the stretcher. Before he was carried inside, Will grabbed his hand.

"Listen carefully Harry. We're in a very safe place. Standing next to me is Dr. Wakeman. She is the one who is going to be operating on you. She'll be telling you all about what she plans and everything it involves, okay? It's going to sound very scary, but please trust us. We'll do anything we can to help you. Now, I have to take everyone back home, but I'll be back as soon as possible. Most of us have families that don't know about the things we do. We don't want to freak them out by failing to show up back home. Okay?"

"Okay," he replied. "But can you at least tell me your name and why you seem so familiar?"

She leaned closer to whisper into his ear.

"My name is Wilma, but just call me Will, please. As to why I'm so familiar, well, you and I have been seeing each other for quite a while now. In our dreams. Don't worry, we'll talk more later. Go with Dr. Wakeman now. And good luck." Taking a moment to plant a tender kiss on his forhead, she watched him as the guards carried him inside, before turning around to thank the others and take them home for now.

Now completely shocked, Harry allowed himself to be carried away in silence. A feeling of anticipation swept over him. He now knew who his mysterious angel was. He had a name to go with that gorgeous face. And soon, he would have be able to see that face in the waking world.

**Auther's note:** Wow! That was my longest chapter yet. Many of you may have noticed that the whole execution scene and resulting carriage chase seemed rather familiar. It was enspired by the Walt Disney movie, The Three Musketeers starring Charlie Sheen, Kiefer Sutherland, Chris O'Donnell, Oliver Plat, Tim Curry, and Rebecca De Mornay. One of the funniest movies I have ever seen and one of my absolute favorites. I had originally planned for Danny and Odd to do the whole Red Wine For a Chase joke, but it didn't work out for me. I am also not very good at action scenes, so I tried to keep them as short as possable to minimize my embarassment. As far as Danny carrying so many guns, there is a reason for this that I will go into later. Now, I realize that many of you may have read the W.I.T.C.H. comics well past the Nerissa saga. As far as I am concerned, those don't exist. I am totally disregarding them. For one simple reason. CALEB AND CORNELIA FOREVER. Okay? I also feel that the whole U.S government secret agenda scenario is completely unnecessary and complicates the story too much. Next topic. Most of you are undoubtedly concerned about what I've done to Harry. Especially since he no longer possesses his magic. Well don't worry. There were a few ideas that I considered from the very beginning. There was only one though, that really stood out to me. As far as I know, I may be the first to actually do this to Harry, but if I'm wrong, please don't hesitate to correct me. I'm not going to ruin the surprise. I hope you all won't be dissapointed. Well, I would like to close by thanking those who were kind enough to review my last chapter, Ying-Darkness, it's-not-a-moose323, and blackshadow1006. Thank you all, and goodnight.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own Harry Potter, W.I.T.C.H., Final Fantasy 7, Final fantasy 7 Advent Children, Final Fantasy 7 Dirge of Cerberus, Code Lyoko, Ben10, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, American Dragon Jake Long, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Resident Evil, Shadowrun RPG, Dungeons & Dragons, Starship Troopers RPG, Various D20 sources, any of the characters therein, or whatever else the reader may recognize as coming from a TV show, movie, comic book, book, or music video. I wish I did cause they're all gold mines. This story is going to be a huge crossover as well as a self insert fic. It's written for the enjoyment of others in mind and not for any personal profit. So please, don't sue me.

Warning: The following story contains graphic descriptions of torture, mutilation, intense violence, and sexuality. For safety's sake, this fic is rated M.

Author's Note: Well, I certainly did not expect to be able to get this done as quickly as I did. Just luck really. A bunch of stuff got put off and I found myself with a lot of extra time on my hands. I have to admit, this chapter really seemed to come together well. I may even be able to get the next one out soon too.

**Thunderstruck: Chapter Six**

Molly Weasely sighed to herself as she finished packing the last of the shrunken furnature into the appropriate box as she listened to the radio play a Celestina Warbeck song. Looking around to see if she had forgotten anything, she was amazed at how much larger the house seemed. Quieter too. A neat pile of boxes were stacked next to the door, containing nearly everything that the Weasely clan owned. After so many years of activity and life, it was disheartening to see it so...dead. So empty. After almost thirty years in this house, the Weasley's were moving out. In fact, they were immigrating. To America of all places. Why, you ask? Well, for several reasons really.

First, Arther Weasely had been sacked from his job in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office in the Ministry of Magic. Though the reason given was unsatisfactory job performance, everyone knew the truth. It was for publicly supporting Harry Potter. The ministry had forbidden any public dissagreement of policies with several measures passed after the trial, that restricted freedom of speech and freedom of the press. These days, people thought and said what the ministry told them to think and say. Any display of sympathy towards anyone that Fudge said was an enemy, was punishable by a long prison sentence and a hefty fine. The ministry had, overnight, turned from a democracy to a dictatorship. And the people couldn't be happier.

Second, it was not safe for them to stay in England anymore. Not only due to the looming threat of Voldemort, but the threat of their own countrymen. Everywhere they went, the Weaselys were branded as traitors. Threats of violence followed them and indeed, they were attacked on more than one occasion. The aurors did nothing to prevent it. The Weaselys were simply told that it was their fault anyway. Even Percy sneered at them. He was apparently regarded as the only "good" Weasely remaining.

Third, the twin's shop was closed down when their business license was revoked. True, it had already been vandalized, but losing their license was simply adding insult to injury. Luckily though, the twins had not only made enough money beforehand to move the family to America and buy a nice house, but they also had enough to reopen their shop in a much larger location than before. They all planned to relocate to New York city.

When Molly had first heard about the twin's shop, she had been rather dissapointed that they had declined to work for the ministry. Now, though, she was immensly proud of them. Working for the ministry as it was now was asking to become a political prostitute. Selling your vote and sucking up to a dellusional fool who was drunk on power. She also felt gratefull to Harry for providing the start up capital for the twin's shop. Such an angel! How anyone could call him evil was beyond her. He was so selfless and kind even after everything he had been put through in his short life.

The song on the radio ended and the news began. Turning her full attention back to the radio, she listened carefully.

"In today's news, there is still no word or trace of those who released convicted murderer Harry Potter eight days ago. As you all know, a daring surprise attack was staged at the celebration to commemorate the planned execution. As the condemned was upon the stage, two men posing as the priest and the executioner viciously attacked the aurors alongside them. One of them using a muggle weapon called a gun. A few seconds later, two dragons of unknown variety and a large, red, four-armed creature believed to be a type of troll, attacked the aurors surrounding the stage from where they were magically disguised in the crowd. After that, an unknown person, using means that are not understood, attacked the spectator's seats where Prof. Dumbledore, his family, Prof. Snape, and the Minister of Magic were seated, preventing them from taking action"

"Alongside the creatures were three more humans, one using a sword, another using muggle martial arts, and the third using an unknown type of magic to hurl their opponents away. After that, five human-sized fairies flew into the sky and attacked. Four of them using the classic four elements, Earth, air, fire, and water as the fifth released Potter from his bonds. They then escaped together as two more conspirators stole the Minister's new carriage and rode away. During which, the red troll dissappeared and was replaced with a huge insect of some type."

"During the resulting pursuit, all but six of the aurors were wounded, nine seriously, as a muggle machine, identified as a type of recreational vehicle, appeared and fired upon them with unknown weaponry. They all then escaped through a magical portal that appeared at the edge of the wards that were established to protect the proceedings. They have not been heard from since."

"Minister Fudge has offered a reward of fifteen thousand galleons to whoever submits information leading to the capture of these dark creatures and criminals. In other news-."

Molly turned off the radio. Deep in thought, she pondered the news. She had heard it before, of course. It was just that she couldn't help but feel curious. These people and creatures were complete unknowns. What reasons would they have to rescue dear Harry? Not that she wasn't gratefull though. Not at all. If she ever met any of them, she swore, she would cook them a feast like no other in the world. Distracted by these thoughts, she was barely aware of the approach of her husband and four sons. Bill and Charlie had come over today to help with the move. Bill was in the process of being transfered to the Paris branch of Gringotts to be closer to Fleur's family, while Charlie was going back to the dragon reserve in a few weeks.

"Dear, is everything all right?" Arthur asked.

"Hmmm? Oh! Yes, I suppose so." She replied "The WWN just said there was no word on who helped release Harry. I'm glad that they haven't been found, but I can't help worry about him. Given how badly Harry was t-...tortured (shudder), and all I can only pray that they can or will help him."

"Don't worry mum" Fred said.

"He'll be alright" George continued.

"Those people are probably-".

"Pampering him right now."

"Servants catering to his every need."

"Girls at his feet begging for attention."

"The lucky bastard!" they finished together.

Rolling her eyes and smiling slightly at the two she replied. "Well I just can't help it. He's been like a son to me for almost six years now."

"I know mum," Charlie spoke up, reaching out to hug his mother. "But it's not like we can do something about it right now. All we can do is wait and see what will happen and support him if we can."

"Charlie's right mum," Bill said. "Hell, I was hoping he would be able to come to the wedding. You know how much Fleur's family likes him. In fact, all of Wizarding France is up in arms over this."

"And they're not the only ones" Mr. Weasely stated.

Looking at the head of the family, the others were puzzled.

"What do you mean dad?" Charlie asked.

"I just heard a few hours ago that the Americans and the Japanese are extremely displeased by how Harry's been treated and the way the trial was conducted. They have been pushing for an international retrial, though it doesn't look like it's going to happen."

"The Japanese?" Molly asked, surprised. "Why would they care so much?"

"Well, you know how they're such romantics, right? It would seem that they regard Harry as something akin to a modern samurai. They have been closely following his actions while at Hogwarts and they feel that he's an honorable person. A warrior. Not one who would have commited murder. He has a huge number of fans over there. During the trial, when it was revealed how he had been treated by the Dursleys for all those years, they didn't see it as proof against him. Instead, they saw it as a testiment to his character that he had not killed them years ago. They believe that even if he had killed them, it would have been well deserved. Most of the other nations seem to be neutral as far as this goes."

Not knowing how to respond to that, Molly settled for picking up the radio and asking, "well, is everyone ready?

Nodding, the menfolk picked up the boxes and after taking a last look around, left their old home for the final time.

**House of Black**

Remus had a good start on wearing a groove into the floor of the Black library. After his death, Sirius had left this house to Remus in his will. Of course, it looked a great deal better than it had in some time. All the dirt and grime had been banished from the domain and the pests ruthlessly exterminated. He was also a good deal richer than he had been previously. He never had to work another day in his life if he desired. Or would have, had the ministry not passed that measure requiring all werewolves to pay an excessive amount of money each month for being "a danger to the public as a dark creature". Remus calculated that within a few years, he would be completely destitute again. New bills had also been enacted to prevent any "dark creature" from being able to hold any job that would require them to interact with normal witches and wizards, and to prevent them from owning shares in any wizard-run businesses.

Nodding to himself as he paced, he felt that his best bet for survival lie in accepting the Weasely twin's offer to join them in America. He would have to sell the Black house. For a greatly reduced price, of course, once people found out that the current owner was a werewolf. Transfer all his funds to the New York branch of Gringotts before the ministry could come up with a reason to confiscate it. Convince Tonks to come with him. Though that wouldn't be to hard since she had been sacked along with Arthur. The poor woman was treated as anathema by almost everyone in Britain.

**_CRASH!_** "SHIT!"

_That would be her now._ Remus thought with a chuckle. Leaving the room and walking downstair, he was confronted with a most peculiar sight. Tonks had somehow managed to not only entangle herself with the coat rack, but she also had the umbrella stand stuck on one foot and one of the umbrellas had slipped up the back of her coat, opened over her head, and was currently hooked onto the coat rack.

"Not a word, Remus. Not one word" she hissed through her clenched teeth.

Raising one eyebrow in surprise, Remus helped his fiance up. Usually she was apologetic or amused by her own clumsiness. For her to be this angry...

"Rough day?" Remus asked.

"You have no idea." She replied. "At least seven people spit on me, three attacked me, and I was denied service at four different shops. The other shops overcharged me deliberately."

"Sounds almost as bad as my day. Mothers trying to protect their children from the "monster", people attacking with silvered weapons. You know, the usual."

Suddenly ashamed by her attitude, Tonks started to stutter an apology when Remus waved her into silence. Gathering her into his arms, he held her for a few minutes.

"It's okay" he finally said. "We've all had some hard times because of their stupidity. Have you heard about the Weaselys?" At her nod, he continued. "The twins have offered to help us move to America too. We'll be able to get good jobs again and the wizarding communities there still believe in Harry. We won't be persecuted there."

"And you think we should." It was not a question. He nodded. After a few minutes in thought, she huffed. "I guess so. It would mean leaving everything behind, but there's not much left here for us anyway. It sounds good. Where in America?"

"New York City. They appreciate experienced aurors there. And they don't have such a big problem about werewolves as long as the Wolfsbane potion is used as needed."

She nodded. "Lets start packing."

**Mad-Eye Moody's Home**

Moody strode quickly through the house, passing the trophies and other momentos he had gathered over his long, illustrius carrer as an auror. The weapons of defeated enemies, citations of valor and other tokens cluttered the walls and shelves of the modest home. All of them had been gained honorably through hard work and years of dedication. Of course, that had been a time when the ministry had stood for honor, justice, and honesty. Those times were long gone now. Now it stood for profit, status, and power. Well, all except one section anyway. The Unspeakables. Fudge had tried endlessly to bring them under his heel, but to no avail. Laws as old as the ministry itself had ensured that no one person could command their loyalties. Only other unspeakables knew that Moody himself was actually an undercover unspeakable. In fact, there were many undercover unspeakables hidden within the auror ranks.

Turning into his bedroom, Moody walked over to the lit fireplace. Most fireplaces in the Wizarding world were connected to the floo network. In fact, there was a huge register in the ministry that contained a list of every fireplace connected to the network. This one however, was not on that list. What's more, it wasn't connected to the standard floo network. It was connected to only one place. The Unspeakable's Office within the Ministry of Magic. Picking up one of the dueling trophies on the mantle, he opened the base to reveal a small container of a very special type of floo powder. It was only this that could activate the fireplace and permit access to the Unspeakable's Office. Throwing it into the fire, he spoke the name of his destination and stepped through.

The room he entered was circular. At least fifty feet across and with an arched ceiling, it was decorated with arms and armor from around the world. He was immediately confronted with a wand mere inches from his nose. Pausing and smiling slightly, he gave a satisfied nod.

"Well," he said. "It looks as though you haven't forgotten what I've taught you."

The only response he recieved was "Password".

Smiling wider, he said, "We are the champions of order and justice. Though we may sacrifice our lives and our souls so that others do not lose their's, we are honored to do so."

The wand lowered. "Password accepted. Welcome home sir."

"Good to be home, Willis." Moody replied "How are the children? Last I heard, your daughter took first place in the last British Under Eighteen Dueling Tournament."

Willis O'Leary, a stocky man of medium height, smiled. "They're all doing well, sir. And yes, she did win, but it was a close one. Her opponent was very talented."

"Good, good. Well, not that this isn't pleasant, but I've got important business to talk with you all about."

"If this involves Harry Potter, than we already know. We're all glad he was rescued, but we're troubled by the fact that we don't know who exactly did it. Two new types of small dragons, a troll like creature with four arms, a huge insect, five human sized fairies, at least several muggles, and someone using unknown magic to hurl her opponents around. At least, we asume it's magic. Could be something new."

"True, but that's not all I'm here to talk about. It seems that Minister Fudge intends to completely shut down the Unspeakables. If he can't control us, than we are a liability to him."

"What? Can he do that?"

"Yes, as things stand now, he can." Moody sighed. "We have a lot to do and not much time to do it in. We can't let him destroy everything we've struggled to accomplish for years. Do we have any allies?"

"Not many. Most people are firmly behind Fudge and Dumbledore. One I know of is Madam Bones. Near as I can tell though, she's inches from quiting. Especially after Fudge had her demoted in order to put one of his own flunkies in charge of the aurors. Guess she was too much auror and not enough politician for his comfort."

"Tell her not to resign. We need as many friends on the inside as we can get. Contact all undercover agents and let them know about all this. Next, call in all public agents and obliviate them of all classified info including the identities of the undercover agents. Then start transfering all records and store them in the special vault at Gringotts. After that, destroy all other copies. We can't let Fudge get a hold of any this, there's no telling what he would do with it all."

As Willis rushed off to gather the other Unspeakables, Moody slumped, suddenly tired. He really was getting too old for this. He just hoped he was in time to save everything.

**Meridian-Two Weeks Later**

It was crude, Dr. Wakeman had to admit. Even so, there was no Earthside hospital that was better equiped than the makeshift medical bay that had been hastely organized in the Meridian palace. This room had once been the private chambers of Lord Cedric before he was imprisoned in Candracar. Now it served a far nobler purpose. The care of Harry Potter. It was huge. At least fourty feet wide by sixty feet long, with fifteen foot high ceilings. The smooth, tiled floor was cluttered with all manner of esoteric medical equipment. The stone walls were crammed with moniters, medical charts, and graphs. In the center of the chamber stood a glass cylinder, seven feet high, with tubes, and wires leading from it to most of the nearby machines. Within it's murky liquid, floated Harry Potter himself, wearing a pair of black swim trunks and a breath mask that was connected to the nearby oxygen tanks with a long piece of tubing. Jenny was next to them, checking the levels on the tanks.

Harry had changed a great deal during his convalescence. He was now only a few inches shy of six feet tall, with a far more muscular build than before. There were few scars from his ordeal, for which Dr. Wakeman was exceedingly gratefull. He was a rather handsome young man, she thought. It would have been such a shame for him to have been permanantly disfigured. The oddest change, though, was the metallic socket where his left arm had once been. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard the door open slowly behind her. Thinking it was another overly curious guard or maid, she wheeled around to give them a piece of her mind, to find herself suddenly facing Will.

"How is he?" she asked, blushing slightly when she looked at him. "All the others are just outside waiting for an update."

In the three weeks that followed the mission, the team had split up untill they could be sure that they had not been identified by anyone. This was the first time that they had all gathered in one place since that time. Maintaining contact through phone calls and e-mails, they had arranged to come to Meridian at this time.

"Well, I suppose it is time for you all to know what Jenny and I have been doing" she stated, pausing a moment to pick up a clipboard from the table. Following Will, she stepped out the door after instructing Jenny to watch for any changes in Harry's condition. In the corridor outside, were the other team members, standing or leaning against the wall as they waited. The second Nora Wakeman stepped into the hall, they clustered around her all talking at once. Holding her hand up for silence, she waited untill they were quiet.

"Thank you." she began. "First, I would like to assure you all that Harry is in stable condition and in no danger of dieing any time soon." Those words seemed to release all the tension in the area. Now with thankfull smiles, the group listened carefully to what she had to say.

"Alright" she sighed. "In order to repair all the damage that had been done to him, I was forced to rely on my abilities in cybersurgery. I knew it was most likely to be neccessary when I first heard about him, but I wish it wasn't. Well, to begin, I started him on an enhanced nutrient therapy program to make up for his years of malnutrition. This had the effect of bringing him up to his full height and weight potential. Once that was finished, I started to excise all the atrophied and dead muscular tissue from his body. This was time consuming, as there was far more of this than I had previously thought. Next, I added lattice chains of titanium, with bone density augmentation, to his entire skeletal system to improve the bone's integrity and tensile strength." At this point she paused to consult her clipboard to ensure she did not forget anything.

"After that was done, I had to emplant vat-grown synthetic muscles to replace what was destroyed. These were implanted in his legs, remaining arm, and torso. These offer greatly enhanced strength and agility. I also located a damaged area of his spinal column and replaced that with superconducting materials to increase his reaction time. After that, I emplanted artificial platelet factories that lessen trauma from heavy wounds and stop bleeding quickly. Once that was done, I added a layer of what I call orthoskin just under his own epidermis. This acts as low level ballistic armor. Then came his eyes. Since the originals had been totally destroyed, I had to implant new cybereyes. These offer a number of advantages. Flare compensation, low-light vision, thermographic vision, and protective covers to prevent damage. Finally, I added a cyberport on his left shoulder so that I can attach his new arm as soon as he wakes up. Which should be any time now."

Stunned by the extent of the modifications, the others remained silent for several moments. Finally, Ulrich kicked at a loose pebble on the floor, watching as it bounced off the wall.

"Man! Those bastards really did a number on him." he muttered.

Wrapping one arm around his shoulder, Yumi pulled him close. "It's going to be all okay, Ulrich. We'll set things right, you'll see." she said.

"I know, but I just wish those jerks were here right now so we could kick their asses."

Several others nodded at these sentiments when Jenny burst out into the hall.

"HE'S AWAKE!" she shouted.

With the rumble of an avalanche, the whole group rushed to cram through the door, nearly trampling the poor robot girl beneath them. From the tank, Harry laughed as he tried to peer through the murky water at them as they came through the door. The sound echoed strangely through the mask he wore. There were so many of them, he realized. So many different faces and backgrounds. So many new friends. This was going to be fun.

"Jenny," Dr. Wakeman commanded. "Start draining the tank. Will, please get that blanket on the table, he'll be a little chilly when he gets out."

Will and Jenny rushed to carry out her orders, as the others stood back out of the way. Slowly, the fluid level of the tank dropped, untill Harry sat on the floor shivering. Unlocking and wrenching the door of the tank open, Will had the blanket wrapped around him in seconds. Harry struggled to stand, leaning heavily on her. Raising his head, he finally saw her. His angel. The electricity between the two was almost palpable. After smiling starry-eyed at each other for a few seconds, they stepped out of the tank. He looked around to find all the others clustered around, smiling, some with tears in their eyes.

"Thank you" he said quietly. "You don't really know me, but already you've all risked your lives for mine. There are no words I know that would really express what this means to me. For so long, I thought that I was born to suffer. Your help and support has shown me differently. Thank you. I hope we'll be great friends."

A cheer erupted as the group started hugging Harry and each other. After a few minutes, Harry motioned for silence. Instantly quiet, the group listened attentively.

"Nice as this is, I really need some dry clothes. After that, I'd like to get to know each of you as I get my new arm attached."

"Speaking of which, it's right here, Harry." Dr. Wakeman stepped over to the table and pulled off the cloth covering the object.

Harry's eyes widened. Almost everyone else gasped. A few others let out low whistles. It was incredible. Constructed of a new alloy, a sort of neo-titanium, it was polished to a mirror bright shine,and was perfectly proportioned to match his right arm. As Harry looked closer, he noticed that it was decorated! Engraved actually. Lightning arched down the entire length of the prosthetic from shoulder to the tips of each finger. It wasn't just functional, it was a work of art!

"As I worked on it, I decided to add another feature." She explained. "A shock hand weapon. All you have to do is punch or grab someone to deliver an extremely nasty electrical charge to them. It's thought activated, so you won't shock someone you don't want to. I also made sure you won't crush people you don't intend to crush. It has a pressure sensor to tell you how much force you are applying at any given time. These are good safety features, but you must still be carefull! Accidents can happen. Alright?"

"Understood doctor. And, thanks again." He said, smiling gratefully.

"You are quite welcome young man. Now, let's get started"

**Hogwarts**

Professor Albus Dumbledore walked slowly to his office, thinking hard. He barely payed attention to where he was going, his feet on auto-pilot. He was pondering the many strange things that had started happening in the castle. Portraits whispering to each other and going silent when someone passed by. The ghosts were nervous, aprehensive and refused answer any questions as to why they felt this way. The stairs all seemed to lose their magic at random times, vanishing steps not vanishing, or moving stairs that suddenly stopped moving midway through their routine. Often with people still on them. And that was only a few examples. He didn't want to think about the suits of armor.

But the most disconcerting thing had to be the presence he felt off and on throughout the past month. It wasn't malicious in any way that the Headmaster could detect. It just seemed to be laughing at him, enjoying his confusion. Every now and then, he would actually see it. It was rare, almost as if it was teasing him. From the few glimpses he caught, it seemed to be some type of ghost. It wasn't like any other he had seen before though. For example, it was full-color rather than the usual silvery grey. Magic seemed to have no affect on it. And if he didn't know better, he would think that it could actually manipulate the castle itself. Something no one else could do. It appeared to be a young woman, wearing a long pink dress with a very short red jacket. On her feet were clunky looking hiking boots. She had long brown hair pulled back into a braid and vivid green eyes.

After searching the Hogwarts library, Prof. Dumbledore finally found an account of a ghost that matched that description. The legendary Lady Hogwarts herself. He had heard of her of course, every witch and wizard in Britain had. She usually appeared when something of great consequence was about to happen. Often, in such times, she offered advice or other indirect help. But try as he might, he could not find any account of her playing pranks. Very curious.

Shrugging, Dumbledore started up the stairs to his office. Entering, he didn't notice the other occupant until it squawked. Startled, he turned quickly around to find Fawkes on his perch.

"Oh! Fawkes! How nice to see you again. I was getting very wor-" Dumbledore's voice trailed off when he noticed that Fawkes was actually _glaring_ at him.

"Fawkes?" He asked. "What is the matter? Is something wrong." As he stepped foward to pet Fawkes, the phoenix lowered his head, opened his beak, and spread his wings in a threatening manner. Completely surprised, Dumbledore stepped back.

"Fawkes, stop that! There is no reason for you to behave this way. Now just sit there and be quiet like a good bird."

Fawkes's eyes narrowed. What did Albus think he was? A stupid pet? With a quick flap of his wings, he went from his perch to the large desk and started searching carefully.

"Now what are you doing, Fawkes?" came Dumbledore's voice from behind Fawkes, annoying the ancient avian even more. "Get away from there at once!"

Finally locating the object of his search, Fawkes picked it up delicately in his beak and turned to face Dumbledore again.

"Fawkes, wha-. No! Put that back at once! Give it to me now!"

Ignoring his words, Fawkes gave Dumbledore one last glare before dissapearing in a ball of fire. Staring at the spot the phoenix had occupied just moments before, the Headmaster collapsed into his chair. What would Fawkes want with the Potter family's Gringotts key? Without it, Dumbledore would be unable to use the Potter's vault to fund the Order of the Phoenix as he had planned. Though he always could get Fudge to, it made the old man suspicious. Oh well. At least Potter couldn't get a hold of it.

**Author's Note**:Alright, that's another one out of the way. I bet none of you have ever thought of a cyborg Harry before. I got the idea when I was looking through my Shadowrun game manual one day. The descriptions of all that cyberware really got my mind going. And hey! It's something I haven't seen anyone else do on this site yet. So why not give it a try. I was also tired of the standard Harry Returns with Incredible Magic Powers routine. I wanted to see if I could make him uber-strong without magic. Or as little of it as possible anyway. There is still a way for Harry to use magic, but I won't reveal that untill a little later. Next up is discussions with Danny. I plan to flesh out my character in the next chapter since all the others are so well known. This is going to be needed as there are parts of his past that will affect the story. Well, once again, thanks to those who reviewed my last chapter. I really appreciate your encouragement.

**Harry Potter**

Class: Street Samurai

**Cyberware**

Cybereyes: flare compensation, low-light vision, protective covers, thermographic vision, glow green. Cyberlimb: Left cyberarm obvious but not grotesque, engraved with lightning patterns, cyberlimb weapon: shock hand. Bodyware: titanium bone lacing, artificial muscle replacements throughout remaining limbs and torso, reaction enhancers replacing part of spinal column, platelet factories for enhanced healing, subcutanious orthoskin armor.

Street Samurai class information can be found in the Shadowrun Fourth Edition handbook published by FANPRO.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own Harry Potter, W.I.T.C.H., Final Fantasy 7, Final fantasy 7 Advent Children, Final Fantasy 7 Dirge of Cerberus, Code Lyoko, Ben10, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, American Dragon Jake Long, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Resident Evil, Shadowrun RPG, Dungeons & Dragons, Starship Troopers RPG, Various D20 sources, any of the characters therein, or whatever else the reader may recognize as coming from a TV show, movie, comic book, book, or music video. I wish I did cause they're all gold mines. This story is going to be a huge crossover as well as a self insert fic. It's written for the enjoyment of others in mind and not for any personal profit. So please, don't sue me.

Warning: The following story contains graphic descriptions of torture, mutilation, intense violence, and sexuality. For safety's sake, this fic is rated M.

**Author's note:** Okay, this is gonna be a pretty long one. I started this the very day I finished my last chapter. Just had the urge to keep going. Okay, last chapter, cyborg Harry Potter. Well that's something you don't see every day, huh? Thought it would be cool. Apparently, I was right, judging by the responses I got. Thank you all for that by the way. In this chapter, I'm going to take a little while to flesh out Danny. Then, new toys!!! Okay, hold on to your shorts, let's get this sucker started.

**Thunderstruck: Chapter Seven**

**Meridian-The Next Day**

It was an absolutely beautiful morning. Harry was walking along the parapets of the palace and admiring the incredible suroundings he found himself in. He had never really appreciated a simple sunrise before. He had never had the chance to. He used to curse the mornings, at the Dursley's. Now, it was so refreshing. The cool morning air, birds singing, scent of flowers, gunfire, th-... wait, what?!?

Jerking his head towards the sound, Harry stopped walking. Who could be firing a gun here? This was a pre-industrial civilization. These people hadn't even started to develop post medieval technology yet. They used swords, spears, bows, and the like. Rushing towards the sound, he found himself running down several flights of stairs towards a nice little courtyard he had seen on his tour yesterday after the group had gone home. Today though, there were several additions.

On the far side of the yard, against the wall, were five targets that looked like they were made from the lids of some old crates with bulls-eyes painted on them. About thirty yards back from them stood one of the geurillas who had rescued Harry. What was his name? Harry had to think for a moment. Danny. Yes, that's what it was. Danny Mitchel. Next to Danny was a small, square table on which three handguns were neatly layed out with their clips removed. Next to them was a small plastic box about a foot long. A chair sat nearby. Several palace guards stood behind and to the left of Danny, watching, fascinated as he blew precisely placed holes in the targets. As Harry watched, Danny pulled the clip out of the gun he was holding, and put a fresh one in. After pulling back and releasing the slide mechanism, he stepped into firing position and once more started blasting his chosen target.

Harry stepped foward once Danny had finished and turned around to place the gun on the table.

"Hello there, Danny. How're you doing?" Harry called out in greeting.

Danny looked up and grinned when he saw Harry aproaching. "Hey Harry. Not bad man, not bad. How 'bout you? How's that new arm doin', hey?"

Harry looked at his new cyberarm and smiled. "No complaints. Well, other than the fact that I can't 'feel' with this hand any more. You know? Though, the ability to crush bricks almost makes up for it."

Danny just laughed at that. After a moment he looked at Harry, punched him lightly on the shoulder and said, "I bet man. Hell, I thought you would still be in bed. What're ya 'doin up so early?"

"I couldn't sleep any longer. I just feel so energized. I haven't felt this good in...well, forever I guess. Dr. Wakeman really did a great job on me."

Danny shook his head and gestured to one of the guards. "Hey, man. Could you get another chair for Harry, please?" Nodding, the guard rushed off. A minute later, he returned with the chair. After thanking the guard, Danny sat down, waving Harry into the chair brought for him.

"So, whats up man?" Danny asked.

"Not a whole lot. I've got a couple of questions for you, though. What are you doing here now? I thought Will had taken everyone home."

Danny looked at Harry for a long moment before sighing and reaching for the box on the table. Opening it, he revealed a small, well organized cleaning kit for his guns. He began to speak again as he stripped down the AMT Longslide Hardballer he had just fired. "Listen man, I haven't been home for just over three years."

Harry stared at him in shock. "What? Why? Isn't your family worried?"

"As near as I can tell, they think I'm dead. Which is fine by me 'cause as long as they believe that, then they're safe."

"Safe? From what? I think you should tell me the whole story, Danny." Harry replied as he leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms.

"Yeah, guess so." Danny said, resigned. After gathering his thoughts for a few minutes, he began. "I used to a pretty normal twelve-year-old kid. You know, a bit geeky, into roleplaying games, scifi, anime. Stuff like that. I was bullied a little, usual hazing crap most kids get going through school. I had geeky friends like me. We got together on the weekends and played Dungeons and Dragons a lot. Family life was pretty good. My dad was a gunsmith and owned his own shop. Mom played guitar and raised a lot of dogs. Three sisters I could tolerate, mostly. Pretty normal shit, ya know?" He explained as he began to clean the gun.

"Then it happened. I was walking home from school one day. It was a Friday and I was looking foward to the weekly D&D game over at Michael's house. I was going through a little used parking lot that was a common shortcut for me going to and from school. All of a sudden, I hear screeching tires right behind me. After spinning around, I see this dark blue van come charging into the parking lot and pull to a stop pretty hard. The side door slid open and three guys jump out and start running right at me. Of course, I don't know these guys, so I turn around and start running like mad. Didn't do me any good. They caught me easily and knocked me out. Left my backpack behind and hightailed it outta' there.

When I came to, I was strapped to a table, clad only in my boxers. My arm was burning like hell. Turning my head to look at it, I saw I now had a tattoo there. Check it out." Danny took off his desert camo jacket and pulled up the left sleeve of his t-shirt. Tattooed on his left arm just below the shoulder, was a well known symbol. It was an octogon made up of eight alternating red and white sections. Below that was the Roman numeral XIII. "I recognized the Umbrella Corperation logo right off the bat. Who wouldn't? Couldn't figure out what they would want with me though. Looking around, I saw I wasn't alone. There were like, fifty of us in that room, all strapped down and just waking up. Boys and girls. Then these people in lab coats came in and started examining us all. Completely ignored any questions we asked. After that, the experiments started.

It turned out, they wanted to create the ultimate human weapon. A genetically superior soldier who would follow all order without question and without any morals to get in the way. A sort of variation of one of their earlier programs. For months, they did all sorts of crap to us. Not only genetic and biochemical alterations, but psychological abuse too. They wanted us to feel less than human, like nothing more than tools. Didn't work. Not on me at least. The more they did, the madder I got. They just couldn't control me. As time went on, there were less and less of us as some were 'disposed of' as useless. Others died in live fire combat training.

Pretty soon, I was the only one left. The only problem for them was that it was so difficult to get me to do what they wanted me to do. I was rebellious, violent. I attacked anyone that came near me. I was apparently about to be scrapped when a huge accident happened. It turns out, I was trapped in an giant underground lab right under Racoon City. One of their other experiments got screwed up. A virus got loose."

"The T-virus" Harry cut in. "I remember hearing about that. The Umbrella Corperation and the U.S. government were working together in secret bio-weapons research. After it was all exposed, the politicians involved were all arrested and more responsible ones took their places. And the Umbrella Company was broken up, shut down and it's leaders arrested."

"Most of them. After I managed to break out of the lab and escape the city before it got nuked, I was almost captured by White Umbrella. It's the super secret division of Umbrella. Unknown to even most of the corperate executives, it operated freely and independently under controll of the few execs' to escape arrest. I was pretty valuable to them even if I couldn't be totally controlled. They knew I had gotten loose, so they started to keep a watch on my family. I barely found out before I got home. If I hadn't turned back, they would probably be dead by now. Since then, I've been criss-crossing the U.S. trying to stay one step ahead of White Umbrella. With their resources, they've been able to stick pretty close to me untill now.

In fact, they were just closing in on me when Will and the rest of the Guardians found me. I was in this railroad yard about to hop a train to Nashville, of all places, when a pack of White Umbrella goons spotted me and started shooting. I hadn't slept or eaten for two days and I was low on ammo. The situation sucked. I ducked into a cargo car and hid behind some boxes and thought, ' Well, this is it. Game over '. As I'm saying this to myself, I hear a sort of boom behind me. Then this spinning disc of light appears and five girls pop out of it. Then, this really cute brunette looks at me, grins, and says in this really bad Arnold Schwarzenegger impersonation 'Come with me if you want to live'. Next thing you know, here I am." Danny put the gun back together and set it down.

"Bugger! You've been through a lot, huh?" Harry exclaimed.

"Yeah. Maybe not as much as you, but a lot to most people. Since then, I've been staying here and enjoying the good food."

Harry sighed. "Okay. I didn't expect that. Ummm. Next question. Why do you have four handguns? I'd think that one would be enough."

"For a normal person with normal needs, like home defense, one would be enough. For me, well, my needs are a little more diverse. Take these Czeck CZ-75's." He holds up the two handguns. "These are my primary weapons. Easy to use, extremely high quality, very reliable, decent range, it's one of the most popular handguns in the world. They're good in most situations, but not all." Puts them down and picks up another. "AMT Longslide Hardballer. Longer barrel, about seven inches, for increased range and accuracy. When you really need to be sure of hitting something, you get a gun with better accuracy. Last gun is a Colt King Cobra. A cheaper version of the Colt Python. Lacking the carefull hand finish, it's less expensive making it suitable as a service weapon. Chambered for the 357. magnum round, it has stopping power, but not much range. If you want something to stay down the first time you hit it, this is the type of handgun you want."

"Wow," came Irma's voice off to the left. "You really know your stuff."

Harry and Danny turned and saw the Guardians, Caleb, and Queen Elyon walking into the courtyard. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry noticed Danny twitch slightly when he saw Irma. Remembering Danny had refered to her as a "really cute brunette", Harry filed this observation away for later reference.

"Hi, girls." Harry called, smiling at Will. As she blushed and smiled back, he continued. "What's up?"

"We really need to talk." Will said. "There are a lot of things to go over. We need a new HQ before school starts again. And speaking of school, we need to find a way to fight this war without missing any school."

"New HQ? What have you been using up untill now?" Harry asked, confused.

Taranee spoke up. "Well, we've been here mostly. But it's too remote from Earth. We need to be somewhere we can all get back and forth to easily, and where we can get instant access to information. There's the factory, but we have no way of making sure the ministry can't trace us there. Otherwise, it has everything we need."

"Factory?" Harry paused for a moment. "Wait a minute. Maybe we can find a way to magically defend it. Why don't we go there and look around? See if we can't come up with a few ideas."

Nodding, the Guardians agreed. It seemed reasonable.

"Your Majesty, Caleb, Danny?" Harry said. "Would you like to come along?"

"Yes, I would." The young queen responded, smiling. "And please, it's just Elyon."

"Sure, why the Hell not?" Danny replied as he stood and holstered his weapons. Caleb just nodded.

As they all headed out of the courtyard, Will had to supress a small smile as she noticed Irma trying to walk as close to Danny as possible without being overly obvious. God help him when she decided to go in for the kill. Cornelia was of course, hanging on to Caleb's arm. Not that he looked to be having any problems with that. Will, herself walked right next to Harry. Both looking shy and wanting desperately to talk, but not daring to in front of the others. Minutes later, Will opened the portal, and they stepped through.

**France: Abandoned Factory**

Harry was amazed as he looked around. This place was so cool! They were standing in the cathedral like hall just below the main entrance to the factory. Sunlight was streaming down from the skylights along the ceiling, filling the room with revealing light. As Will led them on the grand tour, Harry found himself becoming more and more enthusiastic about using this place as a home base. The factory was a long, three story affair situated on a small island in the middle of the river that ran through the city. It had only one land entrance, the bridge. That could be easily secured against intrusion. An hour later, Will led them over to the elevator once the rest of the factory had been covered.

Down in the lab, Jeremy, and Aelita looked up from the consoles once they heard the elevator start. Moments later, the door opened to reveal Harry and the others who had just come from Meridian. Harry looked like the proverbial kid in the candy store. The grin on his face was absolutely virul in it's infectousness.

"WOAH!!! This is incredible! I've never seen anything like this."

"This is the control room for the super computer, Harry." Aelita spoke up. "From here, we can access just about any computer network in the world and hack in without anyone being the wiser."

"That settles it. This is our base of operations. It's just too good to be left unused. We just need to find a way to-"

Suddenly a small fireball erupted not five feet away from where Harry was standing. Everyone jumped away and Danny drew both of his CZ 75s. Harry was shocked to see Fawkes emerge from the flames. Wondering if Dumbledore was far behind, he was about to run for it when the phoenix leaned over and dropped something onto the floor. Hesitating, Harry took a small step towards the venerable bird.

"Carefull, Harry." Hay Lin whispered to him. As much as she admired the phoenix's beauty, this could be bad. "It might be a trap."

Pausing, Harry considered the situation. "I don't think so. I remember reading once that phoenix's were incapable of deceit or malice." Walking slowly over to Fawkes, he knelt to pick up the object. Holding it in front of his face, he could barely believe his good fortune.

"Great Merlin!" He exclaimed. "It's my Gringotts key! How did-. Wait a minute. Dumbledore had this? I guess he would after I got arrested. You got this away from him, didn't you?"

Fawkes simply shifted from foot to foot. If Harry didn't know any better, he'd say the damn bird was grinning at him. Harry looked at the key again.

"Hey, Sirius told me that my family was really wealthy" he said. "He never went into any details, but he hinted that my trust vault was just a drop in the bucket. This could be a huge opportunity. With that money, we could buy this place and not worry about being discovered as much. Maybe even renovate if there's enough."

"Hold on, Harry," Caleb interrupted. "How are you going to get it? The ministry has got to be on the lookout and you won't even get three feet into Diagon Ally without being cursed to death. And who's to say the goblins will let you have it, your record being what it is?"

"Well, the goblins, according to little I remember from my History of Magic class, have always been neutral in regards to conflicts that don't involve them. To them, business is business. Dark Lord or Minister of Magic. It doesn't matter. As for how to get it, I think maybe now is the time for Elyon to start her job as an ambassador. She didn't participate in the raid that freed me, so she doesn't match any physical descriptions of the attackers. I'll give her a letter from me to the bank manager and ask her to set up an appointment and a discreet way to enter Gringotts. That okay, Elyon?"

She nodded. "Yeah, that's more than fine. It's about time I started doing more for the team other than providing a safe haven."

"Thanks Elyon." Harry took a moment to gather his thoughts. Things were moving faster than he expected. "Okay, ummm. I'll start that letter now. Hey, Jeremy, you have any paper and pens around here?"

"Over in the first filing cabinet on the left", Jeremy said, pointing over to it. "Envelopes too, if you want them."

Running over, Harry pulled it open and grabbed what he needed. He then sat on one of the couches and hurredly composed the letter. After rereading it, he stuffed it and the key into the envelope he had grabbed and handed it over to Elyon.

"Make sure no one over hears you. Well, actually...Why don't you get those galleons from the carriage and take them with you. You can say your opening a new account in case anyone asks. If I'm not mistaken, security's going to be intense. So be carefull. Okay?"

"Okay" she answered. "Will, can you pop me back to Meridian for a little bit? I'm going to need an appropriate disguise."

"Yup" Will nodded. "After that, I'll get you do Diagon Alley, and wait for you across the street from the Leaky Cauldren."

With that, Will and Elyon rushed out of the room to summon the portal where there was no chance of it damaging any electronics. The others occupied themselves by teaching Harry how to use computers.

**Diagon Alley**

Elyon warily stepped into the alley. Hogwarts students were everywhere. School was going to start in a few days, so everyone was shopping for supplies. The atmosphere was tense. Almost no one was talking and those who were did so quietly. People were looking over their shoulders constantly as though the devil himself was stalking them. More than a few of them were looking at the wanted posters plastered at regular intervals on walls, windows and whatever else wasn't able to run away fast enough. Upon them were moving photos of Harry and drawn renditions of those who had rescued him. Some of them were fairly exagerated.

As she got closer to Gringotts, she noticed some unusual activity just outside of the bank. A line of people were waiting to get in. They had to pass through an auror manned checkpoint where they were questioned. Elyon got in the rear of the line and patiently waited her turn. After a fifteen minute wait, she got to the front where she was confronted by a scrawny, whiny looking man with thinning brown hair sitting at a small table, and glaring suspiciously at her.

"Name?" he demanded.

Raising an eyebrow in surprise at his lack of manners, she answered. "Elyon Brown."

"Hmmmmm. You don't sound British. Where are you from?"

"America, specifically Heatherfield California" she said.

"Why are you here in England now?" He asked.

"My mother wanted me to be educated in Europe somewhere. She said that's where all the best schools were."

The man now had a smug smile on his face when he heard this apparent confession that British schools were superior to what America had to offer. He nodded in a satisfied manner. "Your reason for being here today?" he said, more relaxed.

"I wish to open an account here." Elyon held up the bag of galleons and jingled it slightly. "I've been saving my money for several years now and feel it would be safer here than at home or school." She looked around for a moment. "By the way, what's going on here anyway? I've never seen security like this before."

The man leaned foward conspiratorially. "From what I understand, there is a possability that the killer Potter may have gotten his hands on his family's Gringotts key. The goblins refuse to try to capture him due to their misplaced sense of duty to the neutrality treaties. If he gets in there, he'll get his family's money and use it to raise an army to try to take over the Wizarding World. Since the goblins see no reason to prevent this, we have to. We may not be able to controll what goes on within Gringotts, but we can controll who enters. The Ministry is also trying to confiscate the contents of the Potter family vaults, but the goblins refuse to allow us to. Even Dumbledore himself is having little luck on that account. Well, at any rate it seems alright for you to enter. Have a nice day."

"To you as well" Elyon replied, her mind doing cartwheels. Maybe it was possible to gain the Goblin's alliance. Shaking these thoughts from her head for the time being, she stepped into the front entrance of the bank. Looking around the interior, she saw that things were as tense in here as outside. Armed goblin guards stood every ten paces, glaring at the humans as though daring them to do something stupid. The humans were likewise hostile, acting as if the goblins were going to start cheating, or outright rob them.

Looking aroung, Elyon spotted a teller down at the far end who looked to be getting ready to go on break. Stepping quickly up to him, she coughed lightly for his attention. He looked at her, and with a slightly annoyed sigh, sat down again.

Baring his teeth in an aggressive leer, he spoke up. "Can I _help_ you?" Maybe if he scared this human off, he could get back to his lunch break.

Bowing her head defferentially, Elyon responded, speaking quietly. "I'm sorry to keep you here, but I'm in a bit of a hurry. I would like to open a personal account here please." She placed the bag of galleons on counter. "I also have this letter, to deliver to the bank manager. I am to wait for his reply." She handed the letter over to the teller.

After getting her information for the account, he picked up the letter. Glancing at her for permission, the goblin opened it and began to read. Seconds later, his eyebrows shot upward to become one with his hairline. He looked back at Elyon only to see a small, amused smile on her lips. A quick study of the key confirmed the letter's contents. Now shaking nervously, the teller turned to summon an assistant.

"Hardpick!" he hissed. "Please take this young woman to the manager. Top priority!"

Startled by this sudden request, the goblin in question glanced worriedly at Elyon before beckoning to her and leading her away. They went through a nearby door and traveled down several passages untill they came to a large, heavily decorated set of double doors. Knocking respectfully, Hardpick waited untill a voice summoned them from within. Hardpick opened the door and waved Elyon into the room. Stepping inside, she found herself in an opulant office. A large mahogany desk dominated the forefront of the room with three plush chairs sitting before it. Suits of goblin-sized armor stood silent vigil in the room's four corners. Huge paintings of ancient goblin-won battles took up most of the wall space. A rather plump goblin dressed in a fine suit of acromantula silk sat behind the desk, his hands folded before him.

"Hello" he said. "My name is Goldbar. I just recieved a message from the front desk about you, Miss Brown. You have in your possession a letter from Harry Potter?" Elyon nodded and handed it over.

_To Whom It May Concern_

_Hello, I am Harry Potter. First I must assure you that neither I nor those under my command harbor any hostile intentions towards Gringotts or goblin-kind in any way, shape, or form. I have only just recieved my vault key in a very unexpected manner, and I was wondering if it would be possible to arrange a discreet way to enter the bank to recieve my inheritence. I have no wish to cause any inconvienance for you in regards to the Ministry of Magic. If there is no way to do so, please send word with Elyon and I will drop the matter untill I have had a chance to prove my innocence. With Best Wishes, Harry Potter._

"Well, isn't this unusual." Goldbar muttered to himself, smiling softly. "A human concerned with how goblins feel." He looked up at Elyon. "You know, he reminds me of his parents. They were equally hospitable to us. They even invited me to dinner once. It would seem that young Mr. Potter has unknowingly inherited some of his parent's best traits. Will you please inform him that it is in no way an inconvienance at all for us to bring him here? As a matter of fact-..." Goldbrick paused a moment to look around in his desk for something. Finding it, he handed the object to Elyon. It was a metal ring about seven inches in diameter. "This is a special type of portkey that we have developed. Once activated, everyone within a ten foot radius will be transported to a secure area within Gringotts whether or not they were actually touching the ring. Please ask him to come as soon as he likes. He may bring as many friends as he wishes. I look foward to speaking to him."

"Thank you" Elyon responded. "I will tell Harry as soon as I get back. Do you have any other messages to pass along to him?"

"No, not at this time. Thank you. If you will wait just a moment, I will see if your key is ready." Directing his voice to a small box-like object on his desk, he fired off a question in rapid Gobbledegook. He received an answer within a few seconds and nodded in satisfaction. A few commands later and he turned back to Elyon. "Your key is ready and will be here shortly. Is there anything else I may help you with?"

"If you would be so kind, could you please tell me where your people stand in regards to Voldemort and the Ministry of Magic? Are your people leaning towards either as potential allies?"

Goldbrick heaved a huge sigh. "The emissaries of the Dark Lord have approached us with an offer of alliance. Which we refused at once. Not only because of the treaties, but because we know he would massacre us all had we survived the war and won. It would also have been impossible to keep such a thing a secret. We would have lost business all over the world, not just here in the United Kingdom. As for the Ministry, we have no reason to trust them either. With the loss of rights over the centuries and the labeling as creatures rather than people, our dignity has been trampled on all too often for us to ally with them. Dumbledore has tried to convince us, but we have little reason to like him. Take the latest incident. He tried to gain access to all of Mr. Potter's assets. This would have been a severe breach of honor for us. Absolutely intollerable! We have a great deal of respect for Mr. Potter's parents and have been pleased by what we've seen of him. As such, our king has decided that, though we cannot ally with him openly, we will provide as much passive support as possible."

Elyon nodded, then frowned as a thought came to her. "Is there any possability that the Ministry may attack or try to take over management of this Gringotts branch if they don't get what they want?"

"Yes, there is. We are already making emergency evacuation and defense plans, as well as transfering much of our surface assets to other branches. If the situation becomes too bad, we will shut down this branch, return all money and property to their respective owners, and withdraw from England."

At this point, a knock on the door was heard. A moment later, another goblin poked his head in.

"Excuse me, but the key that was requested is ready." He said, stepping into the room. Walking over to Elyon, he held out a small wooden box. Smiling in thanks, she opened it to see her brand new Gringotts vault key. Engraved on the shaft was the number 7693. Now smiling broadly, Elyon turned back to Goldbrick.

"Thank you so much. I really appreciate your taking time out of your busy schedule to speak with me like this. I will relay your invitation to Harry."

"No trouble at all, Miss Brown." Goldbrick replied as he stood up and reached out to shake her hand. "Please, do come again. Well actually, you will be here with Mr. Potter when he comes, won't you?"

"Yes, among others. There are many of us who will jump at the chance to come here. Well, I'd better get going. Thank you again." She said as she stood. After giving a short bow that Goldbrick returned, she left the office.

**The Factory-Thirty Minutes Later**

"Hmmmmm." Harry was thinking about what Elyon had just told him. He was currently sitting on one of the couches in the controll room with Will sitting on his right. During the time Elyon and Will were away, the rest of the Lyoko crew had arrived, and were clustered around Harry along with the Guardians, Danny, and Caleb.

"It sounds alright, Harry" said Caleb. "Elyon got corroberating information from two different sources. Add to the fact that they're not too happy with each other and I think we can trust the goblins."

"Just to be on the safe side, though," Taranee interupted. "I think it best if all of us here go with you Harry."

Looking up, Harry saw the others nod in agreement. It was a wise precaution.

"Alright, get your weapons and lets go." He said, standing up.

"What? Now?" Cornelia asked, surprised.

"Yes. It's early in the afternoon. If we get it done fast enough, we should have you all home before your curfews." He said as he waved them off to get their weapons.

They rushed off to where they had put them. When they got back, Ulrich had his katana, Yumi was holding a steel ribbed battlefan, and Odd's bo staff was slung over his shoulder with Kiwi in his arms. Jeremy and Aelita were weaponless, though they carried their modified laptop computers in messenger bags slung over their shoulders. They all clustered around with Harry, Jeremy and Aelita in the center of the circle. After checking to see if they were all ready, Harry pulled out the portkey and activated it. Everyone felt a huge jerk in the naval as they were ripped from their present location and deposited into another. Immediately, they were dumped onto a hard, cold, stone floor. They had arrived in a rather cozy sitting room full of goblin sized furnature. An empty fireplace dominated one wall just below a large portrait of the current goblin king, Hand of Honor (translated from Gobbledegook).

"Owww" Odd groaned. He sat on the floor holding his head where it had hit the ground after he lost his balance. Kiwi had luckily escaped any injury. "Man! Is all magical transportation that rough, Harry?"

"Most of what I've used are." Harry replied from the tangle of bodies. "Portkeys, floo network, Knight Bus. The only magical way I like to travel is by broom."

"Hello, Mr Potter" came a voice off to the side. Looking up, Harry saw a very familiar goblin. "I'm surprised you came so quickly. We expected you to wait a day or so before accepting Manager Goldbrick's invitation."

"Griphook!" Harry exclaimed. "It's good to see you again. How are you?"

A look of severe shock plastered itself upon Griphook's face.

"I - am well Mr. Potter. I must say, I had no idea you would recognize me after five years. Wizards usually don't bother to learn the names of any goblins except for the most important ones. And most muggle borns are terribly frightened of us."

As they all stood up, a friendly smile spread across Harry's face. "How could I not remember you? You were the first magical being I had ever seen up close. When the teller called your name, my senses were already hyped up by so much strange stimulus that I memorized your name and face. At the time, you were very impressive to me."

Now looking absolutely flattered, Griphook felt lost for a moment untill he spotted Harry's left arm. "What in the world is that!?!"

"My new arm" Harry replied, smiling as he held it up. "Some new friends of mine found out how to make muggle technology function in magical areas, so they created this, as well as my new eyes."

"New eyes?" Looking closer, Griphook saw that Harry's green eyes were shot through with silver circuitry that gleamed in the room's dim light. "MY WORD!!!!! With muggle technology? How is this possible?"

"Please, Griphook, why don't you lead us to Goldbrick and everything will be explained there."

"Y-yes, of course." With that, Griphook led them from the room and down a series of twisting passages untill they reached a door that was familiar to Elyon. Knocking on the door, Griphook waited untill he heard an answering call from within. Then he opened the door and ushered them all in.

Manager Goldbrick looked up and smiled. "Welcome! It's a pleasure to finally be able to meet you, Mr. Potter." He stood up and reached out to shake Harry's hand. As he did so, his eyes noted Harry's other arm. He gasped and shot Harry a startled look.

"Yes-umm" Harry began. "There's a bit of a story behind that. If you have the time to hear a condensed version of it, I would be happy to tell you." At Goldbrick's nod, Harry sat down and, after introducing his friends, began as chairs were brought in for the others. After an hour filled with revelations (at least for Goldbrick and Griphook), the discussion wound down.

"This is incredible." Goldbrick muttered. Looking up at the others, he continued. "Other worlds, alien weapons, cybernetics, genetic engineering, psionics, new types of magic. It is almost too much to believe." Turning his gaze to Elyon. "If we had known of your status before, Your Majesty, we could have welcomed you properly."

"Forgive me, please." She responded. "I was in a hurry and I doubt you would have believed me at the time. Besides, I really am rather uncomfortable with such deference."

Nodding his head, Goldbrick continued. "I would like to know, however, what this 'unimaginable evil' really is. You never really explained it."

"Well," Harry started. "It has to do with an ancient creature called Jenova-"

"**JENOVA!?!?!?!?**" Goldbrick screeched, jumping to his feet. "**SACRED ANCESTORS!!!!!!!!!**"

Harry and the others leaped out of their seats in shock and surprise.

"Wait, you know about Jenova?" Harry asked.

"Know about it?" Goldbrick exclaimed. "We goblins have helped your ancestors guard against it's return for millenia. One of your ancestors told our's the whole tale and displayed the proof. How has it returned now?"

"Voldemort. He is the last descendant of one of Sepheroth's remnants. He's managed to get his hands on some clues that could lead him to recover several remaining pieces of Jenova."

Goldbrick was now very shaken as he collapsed back into his chair. "If he gets his hands on all of them..." He looked up at a pale Griphook. "Quickly, send the king a message telling him of this new information. As you do this, I will take Lord Potter and his friends down to his main vault to retrieve what they need."

"What we need?" Harry asked. "I thought all that was there was money."

Turning back to him, Goldbrick explained as Griphook rushed off. "Not in the least, Mr Potter. Your family has been collecting many things over the millenia. Spell books, weapons, magical artifacts of every description. Even many of the things your ancestors, Cloud and Tifa, and their friends used. Like their weapons."

At this, everyone's eyes went wide.

"Their weapons?" Will gasped out. She reached out to grab onto Harry's arm. "This could provide us with everything we need to take Voldemort down permanantly!"

"No kidding" Danny said. "We gotta go see it, man."

Nodding in agreement, Harry turned back to face Goldbrick. "If you would please have someone lead us to the vault, I would be gratefull."

"I will lead you down myself." He replied, getting out of his seat. "This is far too important for me to do otherwise."

"Thank you, Goldbrick. Let's go."

Taking the lead, Goldbrick led the group out of the office and down the hall to a strange set of double doors. After placing his hand on a lighted panel, he waited a few moments before he heard a ding come from it. The doors swooshed open to reveal-

"An elevator?" Cornelia said, one of her eyes twitching slightly. "Why do you have an elevator? I'd think you would use something more...magical."

"Well, this is the best we could come up with." Goldbrick responded. "It's efficient and easy to operate. It also goes far faster than muggle elevators without endangering the ocupants or causing undue discomfort. Today, we will be descending to the deepest vault system we have here at Gringotts. It contains the eldest and most important vaults in the entire bank. Merlin himself has a vault down there. Of course, no one has entered his vault in centuries."

Stepping inside, the group was surprised to find that they all fit comfortably inside with plenty of room to spare. As the doors closed, the floor display lit up and they began to descend. The numbers flashed so rapidly that they were impossible to read. The ride though, was surprisingly comfortable, only a subtle vibration was detectable. As they went further down, Goldbrick spoke again.

"I haven't been this far down since I last accompanied your parents to their secret vault, Mr Potter. The vast majority of the Potter family assets is located in the secret vault. A great deal, though, is actually kept on a far higher level. This was done to avoid undue suspicion. The contents of these vaults are too important to become general knowledge."

After a minute, the elevator stopped and they all disembarked. In front of them was a massive steel door. Goldbrick stepped up to it and knocked in a complicated, precisely timed sequence. A few seconds later, a strange red light swept up and down Goldbrick's body before fading away. With a immense creak of the hinges, the doors opened slowly. Several guards were standing before them pointing spears at the group. Goldbrick spoke again.

"Don't worry. They are now going to verify our intentions. Any hostility is immediately detected by means of an old device called a truth stone. Once in the hands of the person, it reveals their intent by turning the appropriate color. Blue for benign, and red for hostile."

The lead guard stepped foward and handed the stone first to Goldbrick. After it turn blue, he handed it to Harry. He then waited untill it turned blue and passed it on. This went on untill everyone had held it. Satisfied, the guards stepped back to let them pass. Down a bit further, was a series of mine carts similar to the ones used by the general Gringotts customers. These, however, were much larger. About six feet long and three feet wide they could hold six people easily. After piling into three of them, they rocketed down numerous passages. The wind stung their eyes and stole their breaths untill they finally arrived at their destination.

Standing proudly before them was a massive stone doorway etched with a relief of a winged Aerith Gainsborough, robed as one would expect of an angel. In her right hand, was a staff. In the left, a small, marble sized sphere. Materia, perhaps. The workmanship drew gasps from the group. On either side of the door, life-sized statues of Nanaki (Red XIII) stood proudly, challenging any who sought to enter. After a moment, the carving of Aerith spoke as the statues of Nanaki turned their heads to look at Harry.

"Who seeks to gain entrance into this place?" The voice was a perfect imitation of Aerith's.

Harry stepped foward. "I do."

"Your name?"

"Harry James Potter. Son of James Potter and Lily Evans Potter."

"And the others?" The carving asked. "Why do you bring guests?"

"They are my allies in this new war. One of Sepheroth's remnants left some descendants and now the last one, Voldemort, is looking for the remains of Jenova."

"So it has finally come to pass. You may all enter." With that, the carving went silent as the statues returned to their former positions. The door opened silently. Immediately, torches within the vault ignited. Harry stepped slowly into the vault. He felt as though he were entering a sacred place. Sacred to him at least. Within these walls were the secrets of his entire heritage. The others followed. They found themselves in a large cavern. Torches were planted in the walls every few yards and hanging chandeliers were suspended from a ceiling lost in the shadows. All the contents in this area of the vault were organized in sections. Gold bars were neatly stacked ten feet high in one specific section. Silver bars in another. Chests of jewels were situated nearby.

"Holy shit" Danny whispered from behind Harry.

"The majority of the raw wealth of the Potter clan is located right here." Goldbrick stated. "You are actually one of the richest people in the world. Your fortune values in the billions of galleons. This doesn't count the numerous properties you own world-wide, as well as the large number of businesses that you possess controling interest in. Now, farther along here, are the books, miscellaneous artifacts, weaponry, ect. At the very rear of the cavern, are the items that belonged to the members of Avalanche. Along with those are other items from that era. All perfectly preserved."

"Well, lets go." said Harry as he started towards the back of the vault. As they went further, they found it increasingly difficult to maintain their focus on their objective. The girls were entranced by a storage/display case containing some of the most beautifull jewelry they had ever seen (Harry took special note of what Will seemed to like the most). Jeremy and Aelita took a moment to poke through the books (containing many of the Potter Clan journals). Danny stopped in the weapon section to examine several antique firearms. Ulrich and Yumi handled a few swords. Odd discovered a few magic musical instruments. It was almost fifteen minutes before they reached the desired area.

"Great Kami." breathed Yumi. The others began to murmer excitedly. Before them, neatly arranged and carefully preserved, were the weapons and personal belongings of the original defeaters of Jenova. Tifa's gloves and boots, Yuffie's massive shuriken, even Barret's gun-arm was lovingly maintained. Harry's breath caught in his throat. At last! He would finally discover his roots. A glint of light caught his eye. Turning his head, he found himself staring at something he had longed to find. Cloud's swords. The ones he used in the last battle with Sepheroth. The others fell silent as they saw what Harry had spotted. He stepped towards the blades. They were kept in a small rack off to the right. Beneath each one, was a small label with the weapon's name. He ran his finger along each card as he read the names. The main sword was called Vigilante. The hollow-bladed one was named Vendetta. Next were the ones with the square-serrated edge, Merciless and Avenger. And last came the folding, switch-blade like swords Ascalon and Sidewinder. He stood entranced, a tear forming in his eye.

"What are you waiting for?" A voice whispered behind him. Turning, he found that Will had come up behind him and was just putting her hand on his shoulder. "They're yours now, Harry. Pick them up."

"Do I have that right?" Doubt filled his eyes. "Really? Have I earned it?"

"You know you have. I think Cloud would want you to." Behind her, the others nodded reasuringly.

Turning his gaze back to the blades, Harry took a deep breath and slowly grasped the hilt of Vigilante. Pulling it up and out of it's place in the rack, Harry marveled at it's feel. The weight was oddly comfortable in his hand. Pressing a slight bump on the hilt, he was pleasently surprised when the blade hissed open to it's full width. As the others backed off, he took a few experimental swings. Yes! This felt right! He could feel the power in the sword. It was as though the blade had waited all these centuries just for him. Patiently awaiting the one who would release it's strength against the enemies of all that was right in the world.

Holding it out in front of him, Harry looked to find the others smiling widely at his joy. It was then that something else caught his eye.

"Hey, what are those doing here?" He pointed.

They turned to see what he was looking at. Along one of the walls was arrayed a number of recognizable weapons that once belonged to the enemies Cloud and his friends had defeated. Shinra sidearms and automatic rifles. Shock batons the Turks once used. Even replicas of the weapons Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo used. A bit further along, were weapons labeled with the tags WRO, Deepground, and Tsviets.

"The Shinra crap I recognize." Danny said. "The other stuff I don't understand."

Caleb walked over to peer at them. "Hmmm. WRO, Deepground, and Tsviets. I don't think we've heard anything about them. None the less, it seems they were important enough for Harry's ancestors to keep." He turned to Goldbrick. "There were written accounts of all the events that Avalanche went through, yes?"

"Oh, yes." Goldbrick answered. "They should be in the library section. Carefully marked and in several different languages. I'm not entirely sure, but I believe these particular items were involved in an incident a year or so after the last battle against Sepheroth."

"Alright," Harry spoke up again. "That can come later. For now, I want all of you to look through what's here and pick out any weapons you would like to use."

"Are you sure, Harry?" Hay Lin asked. "These are really important to your family. No one else has used them in who knows how long."

"Yes." Harry's response was immediate. "I want you all to have the best equipment and weapons available. This stuff looks like it's still good even after all this time. We shouldn't waste it. We'll have to bring the others down here as soon as we can. They'll need new weapons too."

As the others separated to sift through the treasures, Harry turned back to the swords. Picking up Vendetta, he studied it for a few moments before figuring out how it fit onto Vigilante. After slipping it on and locking it into place, he reached for the next blade. He continued untill he had put the final piece into place. He hefted the resulting buster sword. Man! Even though it was all forged with some light weight alloy he didn't recognize, the whole thing had to weigh at least two hundred pounds. It was only because of his newly enhanced strength that he was able to handle it at all. Harry knew he would have to put a great deal of time into mastering it.

Soon, the others returned and gathered around him clutching their prizes. Ulrich was holding a pair of katana that had machine gun barrels running along the backs of the straight blades (Weiss' gunblades from Dirge of Cerberus). The hilts were slanted slightly to accomodate the triggers (think of Count Dooku's lightsaber from Star Wars Episode Two Attack of the Clones). Yumi held a strange, folding, double-bladed weapon that included a gun situated in the handle (Rosso's weapon from Dirge of Cerberus). Caleb had another of Cloud's older swords, the Crystal Sword. Odd held one of Cid's spears, the Venus Gospel. Aelita gingerly held one of Aerith's staffs, the Princess Guard. Jeremy had also chosen one of Cid's weapons, the Dragoon Lance. Danny came up with Vincent's signature weapon, Cerberus. Elyon chose another of Aerith's staffs, the Parasol.

The Guardians had also chosen weapons. Will had Tifa's Premium Heart gloves in her hands. Cornelia had another of Cid's spears, the Partisan. Taranee held one of the Turk shock batons. Hay Lin was playing with Yuffie's Magic Shuriken. And Irma, surprisingly, was twirling a pair of Velvet Nightmare guns that Yazoo and Loz had used.

"Harry!" Aelita exclaimed excitedly. "Jeremy and I found something you need to see right now!" She pointed back to where she and Jeremy had just come from.

"Um-Okay." Harry said, bewildered, as he put the sword down. Following the pair, the others soon found themselves in front of several large stacks of sealed chests. They were made of metal and painted white. Each were about one and a half feet high, three feet long, and two feet wide. The flat tops were held closed with clasps on three of the four sides. One of them was pulled out and unlocked. Lifting the lid, Harry stared shocked at the collection of small green marbles within. They glowed with an ancient power.

"Materia!" Harry hissed as he grabbed one and held it up to the light. Looking quickly at the front of the chest, he saw a label that said 'Materia: Lightning level two'. "Oh, man! This is fantastic! Even with the loss of my magic, I should still be able to use these." Harry took a few deep breaths to calm down. He had to think clearly. He couldnt afford to get over excited. He could miss something crucial if he did. "Alright. We'll keep these here for now. Later on, we'll move them to the factory when it's ready."

"Excuse me, a factory?" Goldbrick interrupted.

Harry took a few minutes to explain about the factory and the problems they were having with it.

"Perhaps I can help." Goldbrick rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Gringotts could help you purchase the property anonymously. We could also implement many of the same wards that we use here at the bank, as well as hire some excellent renovators. We'll just have to send a team down to have a look."

Harry had a sudden thought. "Hey, Jeremy, Aelita. Would the wards cause any damage to the supercomputer?"

Aelita shook her head. "No. That was one of the first things we thought about when we all first started to work together there."

Jeremy nodded. "That's right. We protected it from magic the same way we got Jenny and the other tech to function in magical environments."

"Okay." He turned back to the goblin. "Thank you, Goldbrick. That would be a huge help. I don't care what it's going to cost. I have far more money than I can ever spend anyway. Make that old factory into the best home/fortress you can." Harry tossed the materia lightly into the air and caught it tightly in his fist when it came down again. Things were really looking up now. Harry wasn't quite sure where this ride would take him, but he knew it would be a hell of a lot of fun getting there.

**Author's Note:** SHIT! I have never written anything this long before! Of course it took me nearly a whole month to do it. I really got lucky with the last two chapters when I didn't have much going on, but with this one, a whole load of work and family related problems came up all at once. Geez. Family. Can't live with 'em, can't eat 'em. I also had to lay down two hundred and sixty some odd dollars for new glasses since my old ones were more than eight years out of date. Really hard to focus on the screen with new glasses, lemme tell ya.

Okay. I went into a little bit of Danny's past with Umbrella. This will have a big impact on the story later on. Danny's tattoo is a variation of Red XIII's tattoo/scars in the game. I just thought it was appropriate since they were both experimented on. I'm still trying to plan this all out, but it's pretty hard. The guns Danny talked about early in this chapter are real guns. I'm trying to use as much realistic details as possible. That means a bit of research is needed. If I screw up on something though, don't hesitate to correct me so I can fix it. Now, his attraction to Irma. She's hot! Okay? If she were real I'd ask her out in a heartbeat. The combination of good looks and wry witty humor really makes me smile. And hey! She's a cop's kid so she doesn't have an aversion to firearms. What's not to like?

I will start pulling things from other Final Fantasy games as needed. So if you recognize something that did not come from Final Fantasy VII, I have not gotten mixed-up. This was intentional. I bought a copy of Dirge of Cerberus and got hooked. Part of why it took so long to get this chapter up.

Next topic. I received a rather rude review from someone just as I was putting the finishing touches on this chapter. The person was apparently complaining about the fourth chapter having little or nothing about Harry in it. If you will remember, I took that opportunity to introduce most of the protagonists in the story. Yes, I realise that this is supposed to be a Harry Potter fanfic, but really! I needed to start moving things along. That was the best way I could think of to do so. I know I am very unorganized. But this story originally came out of a daydream I was having one really slow day. In fact, that's how I do lot of my "writing". I would really appreciate it if you would all keep your criticism constructive. If you still don't like it, no one is forcing you to read it anyway. Okay?

Well, I guess that's just about it. Once again, I would like to thank those of you who were kind enough to review (and were nice about it). It's your encouragement that keeps me going. Untill next time, remember. Don't ignore your dreams or day-dreams. You never know when it would make a good story. As a matter of fact, I think that's how J.K.Rowling first came up with Harry Potter. And speaking of J.K.Rowling, I would like to take this moment to thank her for providing us with such a wonderfull world to dream of and play in. Untill next time.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own Harry Potter, W.I.T.C.H., Final Fantasy 7, Final fantasy 7 Advent Children, Final Fantasy 7 Dirge of Cerberus, Code Lyoko, Ben10, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, American Dragon Jake Long, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Resident Evil, Shadowrun RPG, Dungeons & Dragons, Starship Troopers RPG, Various D20 sources, any of the characters therein, or whatever else the reader may recognize as coming from a TV show, movie, comic book, book, or music video. I wish I did cause they're all gold mines. This story is going to be a huge crossover as well as a self insert fic. It's written for the enjoyment of others in mind and not for any personal profit. So please, don't sue me.

Warning: The following story contains graphic descriptions of torture, mutilation, intense violence, and sexuality. For safety's sake, this fic is rated M.

**Author's Note:** Okay, eighth chapter. I honestly never thought I would make it this far. Due to my life-long lack of self esteem, I was always very hesitant to stick my neck this far out. I have been very lucky thus far to have received only one negative review for this story. That being said, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed so far. Just remember to keep it constructive and there won't be any problems. Okay...ummmm. I guess that's it. Let's rock.

**Thunderstruck: Chapter Eight**

**Malfoy Manor - Saturday A Week Later, Early Morning **

Draco tossed the open suitcase onto the bed. Rushing about the room, he started grabbing various things from shelves and throwing them into the suitcase. Only his most important belongings were taken. The rest were ignored. He went as fast as he could, fairly ransacking the room in his mad rush.

And why shouldn't he be rushing? After today there would be no more pain. No more abuse. No more lies. They would finally escape. Free of that mad bastard he called father. That man- no. He wasn't a man. He was a pitiful, simpering wretch crawling at his master's feet. It was pathetic. From his earliest days, Draco had been told that a Malfoy bowed to no one. The blatent hypocracy of that statement would have made Draco sneer had he dared to do so. As it was, he had no respect for Lucius Malfoy. No. His respect was reserved for the one person he had taunted, laughed at, and fought with for the past five years at Hogwarts. Harry Potter.

He paused for a moment. It was ironic really. The one person he felt he could really trust besided his mother, was the one person who hated him the most. Well, in all honesty, Potter had ample reason to despise Draco. After all the assaults and mud-blood comments, Draco had no right to expect anything besides a black eye from Potter. There was also Granger, but she wouldn't trust him either for the same reasons. Which was really too bad. She was cute. The former Weaselys, Ron and Ginny were also out of the question as they would believe it was some trick to lure them into a trap of some sort. He couldn't even trust Professor Dumbledore not to use him as a spy. He would want Draco to be marked as a Deatheater and that was the very thing Draco wanted to avoid at all costs, thank you very much!

Shaking himself out of his reverie, he began packing again. He had no time to waste. It was either hurry now, or become a virtual slave to the Dark Lord. A minute later, his suitcase all packed, Draco ran out of the room and down the hall. Throwing a door open, he found his mother, Narcissa, hurridly stuffing her own suitcase.

"Is everything ready?" he gasped out.

"Yes." She replied, barely looking at him. "Our money has been transfered to a different vault. New identities have been arranged. A new home in an all muggle town in America has been purchased. Everything." She frowned up at the clock. "We have to leave now. Your '_father_' will be back soon."

She finished her packing and closed the suitcase with a snap. She grabbed his hand as he picked up his suitcase and together they ran to the parlour where the floo was. Letting Draco's hand go, she grabbed a handfull of floo powder and hurled it into the fireplace as she spoke her destination.

"Sanctuary, Orchid Bay."

**Ministry Of Magic - Minister's Office**

Cornelius Fudge was simmering with supressed rage. He wanted to yell, rant and rave. Wanted to throw things and curse these incompetents that surrounded him. Unfortunately for him, that just wasn't befitting the greatest Minister of Magic of all time. There had been no new information about Potter or the freaks who had freed him. They seemed to have dropped off the face of the Earth. It was intollerable! How could a crippled squib evade the best auror force in Europe?!?

He sighed and glared at the faces around the table. All department heads had been summoned for this meeting. To the right of the Minister, sat Dolores Umbridge, looking as ugly and self-important as ever. Percy Weasely sat on his left, smug and sure of himself.

"Alright." He began. "I have a lot to do today, so let's get through this as quickly as possable." He turned to the new Head of the Auror division. "You said earlier that something unexpected came up in the Potter case. What was it?"

Looking unsure of himself, the man cleared his throat. He was tall, slightly overweight, with a large black handlebar mustache that contrasted with his otherwise hairless head.

"Well, sir, since we have recieved nothing but false alarm sightings of Harry Potter, we decided to return to Hogsmead to examine the plaza to see if we could find any clues. Initially finding nothing, we widened our search to include the surrounding streets. That's where we came upon something unexpected."

The man paused for a moment to open the carpet bag sitting next to him. Reaching in, he pulled out several objects. Three were long, rods of metal tipped with a blinking red light set in a wide, saucer shaped base four inches thick. The next two items were similar in design with the addition of a rotating dish in place of the blinking light. The oddest thing though, was that they appeared to still be functioning.

"These things were found attached to the chimneys and hidden under the eaves of several houses in that area. Once they were found, I ordered the searchers to comb the entire village. Dozens more were located and removed. Once we were sure we had found them all, we brought them back here to the ministry to examine them, with little luck."

"What do you mean 'little luck'?" The Minister interjected. "We have the best magical forensics techniques in Europe. You should have been able to determine the function and origin of any magical device in the world. Why could you not find out more about them?

"Well, sir, these objects are not magical in any way. They're completely muggle."

Umbridge snorted derisively. "That's impossible. No electric muggle devices can function in any area of highly concentrated magic. Stop playing around and tell us the truth."

"I am, Madam Umbridge! I know it's hard to believe, but it's the truth. I took it down to an outside expert who deals regularly in muggle electronic repair. Once he had taken several apart, he confirmed my theory. These devices are totally muggle in origin. After we came to that conclusion, he began to study them in detail. This one", he picked up one with the blinking light, "is some kind of communications relay device. The other kind appears to be a sort of detection instrument. The oddest thing was that once they were opened up, they seemed to self destruct."

"Self destruct?" The Minister looked intrigued. "Explain."

"They were designed to destroy themselves if anyone tampered with them. The internal workings began to smoke and smolder untill they were nothing but bits of melted metal and, um...plastic, I believe he called it. Well, after that, it was evident that someone did not want us to be able to examine them in any great detail. It was only carefull thought and luck that allowed him to determine what they were. He noticed several of his own electronics reacting to signals being sent out from these."

"Well, what does all that mean?"

"What it all boils down to, sir, is that we're not dealing with any run-of-the-mill amateurs. These are highly sophisticated, intelligent, organized, disciplined, experienced individuals. Intelligent enough to figure out how to make muggle technology work in highly magical areas. We always assumed the problem to have a magical solution, when it really needed a muggle one. Not only that, but these are far more advanced than is readily available to the mass market. Not even most muggle militaries have access to technology like this. We're dealing with real professionals."

Now greatly disturbed, most of the department heads began to mutter to each other. Looking around, Fudge scowled at them. Banging his fist on the table for attention, he rose from his seat.

"Intelligent or not, these are simply muggles. Nowhere near equal to us wizards. Whether or not they posess new technology, or strange abilities, these criminals and freakish creatures have decided to stand against the Ministry of Magic in the greatest, most civilized nation in the world, England. No matter what, they will be found and punished for their impudence. Now, let us continue." As he sat back down, he directed his gaze back to the Head of the Auror Division. (Can anyone tell me what the position is called? I can't seem to find it). "Anything else?"

"No, sir. Not at this time."

"Very well. Continue your investigation. Inform me immediately should any other clues reveal themselves to you."

Percy frowned to himself as the meeting moved on to other issues. This was something the master had to know as soon as possible.

**The Granger Residence - Saturday Noon London Standard Time**

Hermione sighed happily as she stretched in her chair, books and papers scattered across her desk. The past week had been wonderfull. The best she could remember since-. Well, the best in a quite a while. The first week of highschool had gone off without a hitch. Her teachers already liked her, she had made several new friends, and to top it off, she had recieved word through a letter Luna Lovegood sent regarding Harry's breakout. She had been practically bouncing off the walls for the rest of the week, causing some concern from her parents untill they found out what had excited her so much. The letter had included several newspaper clippings which detailed the daring escape. Some of the accounts were rather lurid, Hermione had to admit. But it seemed accurate enough, if you ignored the ministry propaganda that had been slipped in.

Hedwig chose to hoot at that moment, startling Hermione. She looked over at the beautifull bird and frowned slightly.

"You really miss him, don't you?" She said as she rose and walked over to the perch by the window. Hedwig looked at her briefly, as if to say '_like you don't_' before turning her attention back to the view outside. It was easy to see just how much the poor bird missed her master. She had lost some weight and had neglected her grooming of late. Hermione leaned on the window sill and began stroking Hedwig's back, trying desperately to think of some way to cheer up the disconsolate bird. "Don't worry, Hedwig. I know he hasn't forgotten you. He prob-"

"Hermione!" her mother's called from downstairs. "Package for you!"

Sigh. "Coming!" She called back as she picked Hedwig up and set the owl on her shoulder. She continued to try to sooth Hedwig as she walked slowly down the stairs. As she walked into the kitchen, she found her father frying eggplant for a sandwich he was making. Rolling her eyes at his strange tastes, she continued to the kitchen table where her mother waited with a very small package wrapped in brown paper in her hands. Hedwig hopped off her shoulder and perched on the back of one of the chairs. After thanking her mother, Hermione looked at the label on top of the package.

"What in the world?" She muttered as her eyes widened. "The Gringotts seal? Why would they be sending me anything?"

"Maybe it has something to do with Mr. Black's will" her father suggested as he munched happily on his sandwich. "You know, something they forgot to give you, maybe."

"I don't think so. They're very thorough about things like that."

"Well, perhaps you should open it and find out. Hmmm?" Mrs. Granger said, amused. "After all, you can't tell what it is untill you've opened it."

Nodding her head, Hermione started unwrapping the package to reveal a small, plain cardboard box taped closed with duct tape. She paused a moment, she wondered why it had duct tape. It wasn't normally something associated with any magical society, least of all goblins. Shrugging, she borrowed a steak knife from a drawer and slit the tape holding the small box closed. Sitting down, she opened the package and peered inside. Frowning, she reached inside and pulled out-

"A cell phone?" She looked up at her mother who had a similar expression of puzzlement on her face. "Why would they send me a cell phone?" She asked as she stared at it. It was actually a very nice cell phone. (Think of the ones from Advent Children). Closed, it was about half the size of her hand, flat, and colored a dark purple. Set on the back was a silver owl, it's wings spread wide as it perched on an open book with a quill clasped in it's beak. She was so absorbed in examining it that she dropped it when it suddenly rang loudly.

"GAAAH!" she cried out, barely catching it before it fell to the floor. Looking a little like a deer in the headlights of a car, she flipped it open and answered it. "H-hello?"

"Hey! Hermione! Bet you can't guess who this is!" A familiar voice laughed from the other end.

Blinking in surprise, she was about to retort angrily when a thought rammed itself into her head. Her eyes went wide as she gasped. Glancing up to find her parents looking at her with concern, she choked. "Oh my God. Oh my... H-Harry? Is that you?" Hedwig's head whipped around to regard Hermione eagerly.

"Damn. Guess I owe Ulrich five galleons then." He replied as laughter sounded in the background.

"Oh my God! Harry! Are you alright? Where are you? Who was that laughing just now? Where did you get this cell phone? Why did Gring-"

"WOAH! Hermione! Calm down. More importantly, slow down. I can barely make out what you're saying. First, I'd like you to answer a few questions for me. Alright?"

"A-alright" Hermione whispered, a smile slowly spreading across her face as tears of joy started to leak from her eyes.

"First, how have you been doing? You alright?"

"I'm fine, all things considered. I just finished my first week of high school."

"Let me guess. You already have the teachers eating out of your hand. Hah! Just like every professor at Hogwarts except for Snape."

"I wouldn't put it that way." She replied, embarrassed. "They like me, yes. But I've been trying not to be such a..a"

"Know it all?" She could practically hear his smile.

"I suppose so. I've made some new friends too. I was almost too afraid to, but I figured you wouldn't want me to be alone."

"Bloody right! You're a great person, Hermione. There's no way you should have to go through life friendless and alone! Now, second question. Is Hedwig still there with you?"

"Yes. She's sitting right here next to me. Staring at the phone actually."

"Okay, put her on, please. I'd like to talk to her."

Hermione blinked, not sure she had heard him right. "You want to talk to Hedwig over the phone?" At this, Hedwig started hooting excitedly and bobbing her head up and down.

"Yes. Please. I haven't seen or heard from her in so long. You know what she means to me."

She looked at Hedwig for a moment before shrugging. "Alright, here she is." She held the cellphone down to where Hedwig could hear Harry.

"Hedwig? Are you there, girl?"

"HOOOT! Hoot hoot hoot hooot."

"Oh man is it good to hear you! Have you been a good girl for Hermione?"

"Hooot. Hoo hooo Hoot!"

"Yeah, I bet you have. Listen, I'll be seeing you very soon. Alright? Don't worry about me. I'm fine. I can't wait to see you. Now I'd like to talk to Hermione again please. I love you. Okay girl?"

"Hoot."

Hedwig stepped away from the phone and looked back up at Hermoine. Whatever it was that Harry had said, it had cheered up Hedwig a great deal. Mr. and Mrs. Granger were struggling to hold their laughter in. Still staring at Hedwig as though she couldn't believe what had just happened, Hermione put the phone to her ear again.

"Ummm. Okay. I never thought I'd see that in my lifetime. Any more questions Harry?"

"No. That'll do. Now, what do you want to know first? Keep in mind that I can't go into any great detail yet. But I'll answer what I can."

"Alright. First, how are you? I got a letter from Luna detailing the escape and the articles she sent with it said you were t-...tortured in Azkaban and were crippled and blind! Is there any chance of repairing the damage? Because if there is-"

"Already taken care of, Hermoine. I can walk, see, and have a new left arm too."

"What!?! How?"

"You'll see when you see me" Harry replied with a laugh. "I will say that, I have some great new friends and what magic couldn't fix, technology has. Now, next question."

Hermione shook her head to gather her thoughts, with some difficulty. "I probably shouldn't ask where you are, as the fewer who know, the safer you'll be. So...Where did you get this cell phone and why did you have Gringotts send it?"

"A couple of my new friends made it. In fact, we each have one now. These are designed to function perfectly when other normal cell phones are succeptable to all sorts of interference and limited range. You'll find a list of their names and numbers stored on the cell phone itself. The manual is in the box. As for Gringotts. Well, they're sort of unofficial allies of my family. Have been for quite a few centuries. They're descreet and I trust them completely. I'll tell you why when we meet up. Speaking of which. It'll be impossible to get a hold of me for the next few weeks. My new home is going to be undergoing some major renovations and warding thanks to the goblins. In the meantime, I'll be staying somewhere no one can get a hold of me, okay? I think you should talk to any of my friends that are available, instead. The phone will let you know who is. When it's safe for us to meet, I'll call you and let you know when I'll be sending someone for you. Bring Hedwig along with you."

"Okay, Harry. I...I really miss you. When I think of what Dumbledore, Ron, and Ginny did to you I..." Hermione almost broke down crying. "I just feel so useless! I couldn't do anything to help you. All I could think of was to run away from them all."

"Oh come on, 'Mione! It's not your fault. You're not the one who testified that I was mentally unstable and borderline psychotic. And you're not useless! Your one of the smartest people I know. And at least you can still use your magic. You just need a new wand from what I've been told."

"Magic? Oh God Harry! I almost forgot! Sirius left me some incredible books in his will. I'm now perhaps the only practitioner of truename magic in the world. It's too long an explanation to go into right now. I'll just have to tell you about it later. I can't wait to see you again, Harry."

"Same here 'Mione" Harry replied with a sigh. "Well, I've got to go now. I've got to to contact the Weaselys next. Remember what I said and feel free to call any of the people on the phone's list. They can answer a lot of questions for you. You can trust all of them."

"Okay Harry. Take care of yourself. Bye."

"Bye." Click.

As Hermione put the cell phone down, a satisfied smile spread across her face. If the day had started out well, this really made it one of the best she could ever remember. As her parents exchanged curious glance, she picked the phone up again and looked at the buddies list in the phone's memory. Her smile widened. She had a lot of new friends to make.

**Heatherfield - Vandom Apartment - Saturday Morning California Time**

Will groaned and shifted slightly in her bed. She was waking up. She didn't want to wake up now. The morning sun had risen far enough to lance through her bedroom window and was now Hell-bent on denying her God-given right to sleep in on a Saturday. She squirmed, trying to find some spot on her bed the cursed light did not reach. _Must fight it. Must fight it. Must fi... _ Oh fuck it. It was no use. She was already far too awake to ever be able to get back to sleep now.

Raising her hands to shield her face from the light, it took a few moments for Will to open her bleary eyes. She glared at the window that had betrayed her. Apparently, she had forgotten to close the blinds before she went to bed last night. She sighed, exasperated with herself as she threw off the sheets. Holding the bedpost to steady herself, she struggled to her feet, her favorite froggie plushie falling to the floor. Yawning, she flipped on the radio and stumbled over to the full-length mirror nearby.

"God, I look like Hell" she said to herself as she listened to the DJ make an ass of himself. Her eyes were still only half-open, and she had a ferocious case of bed-head. She was wearing a rumpled pair of pink bicycle shorts and a short pink tank-top that she always wore to bed in the California summer. Other than that, however, she had to admit she looked pretty good. Now at fifteen years old, almost sixteen, she had grown into a gorgeous young woman. A far cry from the broom-stick body she once described herself as, she had developed a remarkable physique. Very fit and curvy. Though nowhere near as _well endowed_ as her good friend Irma Lair.

Just then, one of her favorite songs started. It was rarely played, so she relished hearing it when she could. Now fully awake, Will could not keep herself from swaying, and then dancing full out to the music. Her movements slowly become more and more fluid and seductive as the song went on.

"Abracadabra" by the Steve Miller Band.

I heat up, I can't cool down

You got me spinnin'

'Round and 'round

'Round and 'round and 'round it goes

Where it stops nobody knows

Every time you call my name

I heat up like a burnin' flame

Burnin' flame full of desire

Kiss me baby, let the fire get higher

Abra-abra-cadabra

I want to reach out and grab ya

Abra-abra-cadabra

Abracadabra

You make me hot, you make me sigh

You make me laugh, you make me cry

Keep me burnin' for your love

With the touch of a velvet glove

Abra-abra-cadabra

I want to reach out and grab ya

Abra-abra-cadabra

Abracadabra

I feel the magic in your caress

I feel magic when I touch your dress

Silk and satin, leather and lace

Black panties with an angel's face

I see magic in your eyes

I hear the magic in your sighs

Just when I think I'm gonna get away

I hear those words that you always say

Abra-abra-cadabra

I want to reach out and grab ya

Abra-abra-cadabra

Abracadabra

Every time you call my name

I heat up like a burnin' flame

Burnin flame full of desire

Kiss me baby, let the fire get higher

I heat up, I can't cool down

My situation goes 'round and 'round

I heat up, I can't cool down

My situation goes 'round and 'round

I heat up, I can't cool down

My situation goes 'round and 'round (fade out)

As the song finished, Will was startled to hear clapping from behind her. Losing her concentration, she slipped on a loose piece of paper on the floor and fell on her ass with a loud thump. Wincing and rubbing her backside, she looked up to see her mother, applauding her dancing skills with an amused smile. Susan Vandom was a very attractive woman with long jet-black hair and dark, mysterious eyes.

"Very nice." She said, leaning against the door jam. "Though you might want to work on the finale."

"MOM!!!" Will was embarrassed at the fact that her mother had walked into her room without knocking and found her dancing around in her nightclothes. "Couldn't you at least knock first?!"

"Where's the fun in that?" She teased as she moved to help her daughter up off the floor.

Once standing, Will glared slightly at her mother, illiciting a giggle from her. Rolling her eyes, she moved to stand once more in front of the mirror, an odd look on her face. Mrs.Vandom frowned slightly when Will apparently took no more notice of her. Thinking Will just wanted to be left alone, she turned around to leave the room. As she did, Will spoke up.

"I don't look too bad. Do I?" Her tone was thoughtfull, as if discovering this fact for the first time.

Turning back to look at Will, Mrs. Vandom paused. "What do you mean? You've never been unattractive." She came up behind Will and hugged her as they both looked at Will's reflection in the mirror. "You have no idea how truly beautifull you are. So much more than I was at your age." She noticed the slightly dream like look that crept into her daughter's eyes. That was a look that she knew very well. Her daughter had a crush on someone. Struggling to contain a mischevious smile, she brought her mouth down close to Will's ear.

"What's his name?" she whispered.

"Harry" Will whispered, before gasping when she realized she had spoken aloud. Mrs. Vandom burst out laughing at the look on her face. "Moooom" Will whined, covering her eyes in embarrassment.

"So," Will's mom said, when she stopped laughing. "When am I going to meet this Harry? Hmmmmm?" She hugged Will tighter. "Maybe we could have him over for dinner?"

Will sighed, the dead serious look in her eyes silenced her mother instantly.

"What's wrong, Will? Did I go too far?" She was frightened at the thought of alienating her daughter even more than before. "I'm sorry. Please don't be angry with me. I didn't mean to-"

"No, mom. It's not that." Will replied. "I'm not mad at you at all. It's just that... Harry has had a really hard time lately. A bunch of issues came up suddenly with some former friends of his, some serious injuries he recieved, his inheritance, and the fact that he lives on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. It all really makes pursuing a relationship hard. We don't know each other that well yet, but I really like him. And... I think he likes me."

"Other side of the Atlantic?" Mrs. Vandom repeated, startled.

"England" Will replied. "I met him over the summer and we spent a lot of time together."

"Long-distance relationships can be very difficult, if not impossible. All I can say is that even if nothing comes of this, you at least met a nice new friend. Well, I'm going to go and get breakfast ready. You said last night you were going out with your friends again today?"

Will nodded. She winced slightly when a disappointed frown momentarily creased her mother's face.

"Okay. Come eat when you're ready." Mrs. Vandom said as she turned and left after flashing a sad smile at her daughter.

Will collapsed onto the bed and held her head in her hands. It was getting harder and harder for her to justify constantly disappointing her mom. At least she didn't have to lie again. Not really. She hated having to lie to her mom. Their relationship had slowly been deteriorating since they had moved here to Heatherfield and Will had become a Guardian. Before they moved, they had been more than merely mother and daughter. They had been best friends. But now, the constant pressure of her new responsability was tearing apart the close bonds they had once enjoyed. Will slammed her fist down on the bed. Dammit! She loved her mom! Will was only trying to protect her. But honestly, she had no idea how much longer she could keep this up.

She shook these thoughts from her head for the time being. There were other things that needed to be done. Pulling her new cell phone (light green with the cutest little froggie on it ;-P) from her desk drawer, and checked the buddies list. Yes! Hermione's had just been activated. It looked like she was already talking to Gwen Tennyson. Putting it back down, she rushed to dress herself. After pulling on a pair of jeans and a light red t-shirt, she slipped a pair of sandals on, grabbed the cell phone and the Premium Heart gloves and ran out of the room.

Walking into the kitchen, she saw her mom laying plates of bacon and waffles on the table. Sitting down, the meal passed in uncomfortable silence. As she got up to leave, she looked at her mom.

"Mom?" Her mother looked up at her. "I love you. I know I don't say that nearly as often as I should. But please, don't doubt it for a second. I just have a lot of things going on right now."

"I know, Will." Mrs. Vandom replied, sighing. "I just miss being able to spend time with you. Remember how we used to watch old movies all night, eating ice cream and soda? I really miss those days, Will. I know your friends are important to you, but you're all I have. I feel like I'm losing you."

Will didn't know what to say to that. It was a few moments before she could speak again.

I...I'm sorry, mom. I didn't mean to make you feel this way." She felt lost. "I promise, I'll try to spend more time with you. How about tomorrow ? I know it won't be a quick fix but..."

"It's alright, Will." Her mom said as she stood up and hugged Will, smiling slightly. "I know. You go and see your friends. I'll be fine."

"Okay" Will whispered. She held on to her mother for a few more seconds. After letting go, she went to the front door. Opening it, she looked back at her mom and smiled. "See you tonight, Mom. Love you."

"I love you too, Will. Have fun." Mrs. Vandom smiled back at her, as Will went outside.

Closing the door behind her, Will paused. Things might be looking up for them. She would have to work at it. If there was only some way to make sure they could spend more time together... Oh well. She would figure something out. For now, there were a lot of things she had to talk to the others about. Harry had said something about an inventory of what was in his vaults, and Hay Lin wanted to take everyone's measurements for some new costumes she was designing. There was a lot to do.

**Author's Note:** Well, not as long as the last one, but I'm happy with it. Now, I know most of you hate Draco. I used to be one of those untill I read a bunch of fics that put him in a new perspective for me. He going to be important later in the story as he adjusts and learns new ideas and ways of thinking. From my point of view, he's not bad, just limited in his thinking and experiences.

Okay, the time has come for me to ask for your help. I need costume ideas for the characters. I had always planned to put Harry in Cloud's costume from Advent Children as the long left sleeve would conceal his cyberarm easily. I also see him as a cross between Cloud and Tifa with his spiky black hair and Tifa's complexion. I felt it was appropriate. But I need ideas for the others. I have a few basic ones that I pulled from Final Fantasy X and X-2. But I need more. I would appreciate any and all help you could give me. Costumes from any and all series are welcome. Be it Final Fantasy, your favorite movie, video game series, anywhere. Of course, I will be adding masks as neccessary to conceal their identities. Just be sure you include the name of the character and series it came from so I can look it up. Thank you.

I would like to thank, as always, the people who were kind enough to review. As well as thanking J.K.Rowling for her wonderous creation. If only I was half as talented. This is Uchiha ninja signing off.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: No, unfortunately I don't own Harry Potter, W.I.T.C.H., Final Fantasy 7, Final fantasy 7 Advent Children, Final Fantasy 7 Dirge of Cerberus, Code Lyoko, Ben10, The Life and Times of Juniper Lee, American Dragon Jake Long, My Life as a Teenage Robot, Resident Evil, Shadowrun RPG, Dungeons & Dragons, Starship Troopers RPG, Various D20 sources, any of the characters therein, or whatever else the reader may recognize as coming from a TV show, movie, comic book, book, or music video. I wish I did cause they're all gold mines. This story is going to be a huge crossover as well as a self insert fic. It's written for the enjoyment of others in mind and not for any personal profit. So please, don't sue me.

Warning: The following story contains graphic descriptions of torture, mutilation, intense violence, and sexuality. For safety's sake, this fic is rated M.

**Author's Note:** Man! This was a tough one to write. I apologize for getting this out so late but I had a lot of things to do these past two months. Yeah, there was Thanksgiving and that takes up a lot of energy. But it was also gift shopping and family troubles as well. See, my mom had abdominal surgery near the middle of November and needed a lot of help around the house. Expecially on Thanksgiving day. Then my car decided to crap out on me. A 2001 Hyundai Accent I bought used only a year ago. So I got that fixed as soon as I could. Those fools wanted to charge me over four hundred dollars to fix it. Screw that! So I bought the parts I needed and had my dad show me how to fix the problem. Ended up costing me about a hundred and fifty for both the parts and the initial diagnosis of the problem. Well, that's enough of my whining and excuses. Let's get going.

**Thunderstruck: Chapter Nine**

**Orchid Bay Same Day**

The Guardians were currently walking down a street past the park in Orchid Bay. Pedestrians were passing them, intent on their errands. They were heading to Jasmine Lee's house where they usually met up with Juniper and the others. With them were Ben and Gwen Tennyson.

"There has got to be an easier way to do this" Cornelia huffed, smoothing her ruffled hair down. "It's too tiring to have to travel everywhere to get everyone when we need to have a meeting. And it messes up my hair."

Will sighed. "I know. But it's not like we have much choice for the moment. I'll have to ask Harry what he thinks about this. We need to find a way to get where we need to go without relying on the Heart. If I'm put out of action, everyone's left without a way to get back and forth."

"Maybe portkeys?" Hay Lin chirped. "Set them to go between two locations and they should be okay. We just have to get used to them."

"Just remember the barf-bags." Irma stated, not looking foward to having to constantly use portkeys all of the time.

"Ugh. Please don't say things like that." Gwen emplored. She had the opportunity to use one when she and the others went to Harry's vault for the first time. Needless to say, it was something she had no desire to repeat on a regular basis. Gwen was now wearing another pair of Tifa's gloves, the God's hand. "I just ate a little while ago."

Ben grinned at her. "Awwww. Is widdle Gwen feewing sick?"

Gwen glared at him. "Oh, like you weren't?" She grinned suddenly. "Of course you nearly puked in front of your precious _Juniper_ last time. Didn't you?"

Ben paused, midstep, as his breath caught in his throat and his left eye began to twitch. Ever since he had first seen her in the factory that day, he had developed a huge crush on her. June was incredible. Strong, smart, with a can-do attitude. It was hard not to be drawn to her. He was lucky she had gotten over her crush on that Marcus he had heard about. If it wasn't for that, he wouldn't stand a chance. Still, it was no reason for Gwen to torment him about it. Sputtering uselessly, he settled for flipping her off as the girls all laughed. He was tempted to go Heatblast on her.

As they approached Jasmine's home, they were startled to hear what sounded like a riot coming from the house in question. Glancing at each other, they quickened their pace. Just as they got to the front walkway, a small potted palm tree came crashing out one of the windows.

"**_Ray Ray!!!!!_**" June's voice screamed from within the house.

Hearing this, the others charged up to the house. After throwing the front door open, they were stunned to see a war zone. Furnature was shattered and strewn every which way, the walls filled with holes, and a strange creature the size of an adolescent cow was rampaging around the room with a couch impaled on it's impressive horns. June, Ophelia and Jasmine were trying to capture it as Roger and Judy struggled to maintain their grip on the couch in question. Monroe was shouting advice next to the doorway. Dennis, June and Ray Ray's eighteen year old elder brother, vainly tried to find some sort of entrapment spell in one of Jasmine's books as he dodged about. Twelve year old Ray Ray, apparently the instigater of this chaos, was jumping up and down in excitement and yelling at the top of his lungs. Seconds later, Ray Ray leaped foward with a warcry and tackled the beast's hind legs from under it. After it toppled over, June and Ophelia struggled to hold it down while Jasmine cast a hasty sleep spell on it.

"Well" Jasmine huffed, wiping sweat from her brow. "That's one way to excercise in the morning. We're going to have to have a little talk later, Ray Ray." The boy simply grinned impishly.

"What the Hell happened here?!?" Ben asked, staring at the wreckage. The Guardians, Ben and Gwen stepped into the room, amazed by the chaos that one creature had wrought upon the formerly tidy home.

"Oh! Hi there. Didn't hear you come in." Jasmine said as she lifted a chair into it's full and upright position, brushed it off and sat down. "Apparently, Ray Ray got it into his head that with his newly awakened powers, he could easily handle a crumple-horned snorkak. He accidently led it here and well..." She gestured to the scene around them.

"Powers?" Cornelia asked, eyebrows shooting up. "But that means he's..."

"The new Te Xuan Ze" Ray Ray stated proudly.

"Two in one generation" June groaned. "This is the first time it's ever happened." She looked over at the others. "Remember that accident I told you about? The one that gave him the ability to see past the veil? Well it looks like it copied all my powers into Ray Ray." Brings her left hand up to massage her forehead. "He's only a year older than I was when I first got my powers, so I really can't say he's too young to do it. We're just going to have to train him."

"The Elders are very exited about it." Jasmine said. "It will make things a bit easier with two Te Xuan Ze defending the community. Add Judy, Ophelia, and Roger, and the Elders are feeling very secure about the future right now. In fact, they want Juniper to focus on this war with Voldemort as much as possible as I train Ray Ray in his new duties."

Will nodded thoughtfully. "That should make things a lot easier. You know...Jake told us the Dragon Council said pretty much the same thing to him. They wanted him to focus on this war too. Jake's little sister, Haley is the acting American Dragon for the time being. The only problem is with Rose. She's still working undercover in the Huntsclan and can't be on hand to help us all the time. In fact, I heard Jake say she wouldn't be able to come today."

"That's okay" Judy said. "We can't expect everything to go in our favor every time."

"Yeah, like, shit happens" Ophelia said, earning frowns from Judy and Jasmine. Roger just laughed.

Hay Lin noticed the clock on the wall (remarkably undamaged). "Wow! We have to get going now. The others are still waiting for us."

"Oh jeez! Your right." June winced. "Hey, Ben. Could you hand me my coat please?"

Ben hurried to comply, fetching the requested garment from where the shattered coatrack lay. After dusting it off, he handed it to her, their fingers brushing ever so slightly. He nearly melted through the floor when she smiled her thanks at him. Wondering for a moment how to respond, he settled for shrugging, as if to say 'no big deal'.

June, meanwhile was wondering if she should pursue Ben. After all, her last crush didn't work out so well. Marcus had been this layed-back, calm, collected individual that nothing seemed to bother. Ben on the other hand, was often loud, a little egotistical, and bull-headed. They were as different as night and day. Yet she couldn't deny her attraction to him. He understood her. All her problems about balancing a social life and hero work. If you got past the defensive boasting, you'd discover that he was a lot more intelligent and sensitive then he made himself out to be. Letting out a small sigh, she forced herself to focus on the real subject at hand.

"Well, let's get going. We can't keep them all waiting. See ya later, Ah Mah."

After saying goodbye to Jasmine, Ray Ray, and Dennis, they left.

**Meridian Royal Palace Twenty Minutes Later**

As they walked into the dining room to join the others, the group was surprised to find almost everyone in the room laughing fit to cry. They were all seated at the table, a meal spread untouched before them. Every single one of them were either doubled over clutching their stomachs, beating on the table with their fists, or rolling on the floor. Except Harry, that is. He, oddly enough, looked incredibly embarassed. Even Fawkes, perched on the back of Harry's chair, looked like he was enjoying himself at Harry's expense.

"Hey! What's so funny?" Asked Irma as she looked around, annoyed that she didn't know what they were all laughing about. The group quieted down a bit when they heard her.

Harry blushed harder. "Well... I just told them about my first quidditch game.The one where I, uhh..."

"He almost swallowed the snitch!!!" Jake managed to stop laughing just long enough to gasp out the words. Anything else he was going to say was drowned out as the group dissolved into loud peals of laughter once more. It took almost seven minutes before they had all calmed down enough to get down to business.

"Alright." Harry began, still blushing in embarassment as everyone began to eat. "We've got a lot to go through today. First off, I hope you all got through the books you got from the vault." At their nods, he picked up a sheet of paper from the table and continued. "This describes a couple of the more usefull magic artifacts that were in my Gringotts vault. I've brought those items here today to show them to you and plan how we will use them. First are a collection of small multi-use portkeys. These have a much smoother ride than other portkeys. They were created by my family centuries ago before the current, public versions were commonly used. Several locations can be stored in the portkey's 'memory' allowing you to jump to up to five seperate locations with one portkey. I don't think it can cross the planer barrier, so let's not try. It could kill you. But, as an added bonus, they're in the form of necklaces shaped like the Potter Coat of Arms. Each of you will be getting one."

He held one up for them to see. The necklace featured a golden shield emblazoned with three seperate, simple images. The topmost image was a familiar buster sword slanted diagonally across it's space. This symbolized the strength of the clan. The lower left was of a open book, a quill dripping ink ready to write. What would be written was unknown. A journal, a tome of magic, perhaps a treatese on tactics. This symbolized the endless potential of each clan member. The final image, on the lower right, was of an intricately knotted length of rope. This symbolized the clan's unity of porpose. The shield hung from a chain of bright silver.

"You said a smoother ride, right?" Ben asked, eyeing it warily. "I don't want to be so sick again."

"Yes. Don't worry. I'm not eager to go through that again either. You'll each get one when we leave here today as well as instructions on their use."

After handing them out, Harry continued. "The next item is called the Orb of Chronos. Once activated, it will create a sort of temporal sphere where a year will pass on the inside for every hour that passes outside. Once inside, though, you don't even age at all. So we can use it to train for however long we want." He held up a hollow globe of crystal about the size of a typical human head. Suspended in the center was a golden hourglass studded with saphires and rubies that constantly spun slowly on it's axis. After holding it up for a few moments, he placed it in a wide base of oak wood.

"How big of an area does it affect?" Taranee asked.

"That's the problem. The area has to be fairly large. No less than a five square mile radius. It can go up to a twenty mile radius. We need to find a completely isolated location to set it up, enough food to last us a while, and other personal things to make sure we don't drive ourselves crazy."

"I may have a solution, Harry." Aelita piped up. "While Jeremy and I were reading some of the Potter family journals you handed out to everyone, we came across several references to an island that your family kept as a secret refuge against enemies. They hid it from the entire world using highly sophisticated wards and also kept more treasures there. Though there is no specific mention of what these treasures were. The island itself can be accessed through special stone gateway kept sealed in a large crate in the Potter special vault."

Now Jeremy spoke. "The journals also mentioned allies who lived exclusively on the island. Again, there are no specifics on who or what they are, so we will just have to go and see for ourselves."

Harry thought for a few seconds. "Sounds promising." he said after a moment. "When we go there, we'll have to keep our guards up though. There's no telling what may have changed since my parents died. Now, since you brought it up, is there anything else you found in the journals that can help?"

Jeremy sighed and shook his head. "Not yet. Remember, there are quite a few journals to go through. We were lucky to have found what we did."

"Alright. Sorry, I'm not trying to pressure you. I'm just eager to learn more. All I found while reading was that many of my ancestors were avid quidditch players. Anyway, next topic. We need to decide what kind of training we need to focus on. So far, Lao Shi has offered martial arts instruction to everyone. Max Tennyson has offered military style fitness and operational procedure training." Harry looked at Ben and Gwen curiously. "By the way, where is Max?" he asked them.

"He went to see has lawyer today to have his will updated." Gwen looked a little depressed as she spoke. "It's just something he had to do." Ben looked highly disturbed by the thought of loosing his grandfather someday.

"Law... Oh! His solicitor." Harry looked a little uncomfortable, clearly remembering having to sit through Sirius's will reading. Ben and Gwen were understandably not eager to go through that any time soon.

"Right. Ummm, sorry. Okay, next Doctor Wakeman has offered computer courses for those who need it. And finally, Danny has suggested that basic firearms training would be a good idea for everyone." Several members of the group looked more than a little uncomfortable at the idea of handling a gun.

Noticing this, Danny spoke up. "Listen. A gun's just like any other weapon. It's made to kill. Just like a knife, sword, bow, club, or whatever the Hell you want to name. I know none of you want to even think about killing, but it's gonna happen. Those Death-bitches ain't gonna restrain themselves. Why should you when we're facing off against 'em? Even if you do and they're sent to jail, they'll just get busted out again. Think about it. These screwballs enjoy causing pain. They get their jollies off on raping, torturing, and killing. We gotta take 'em down permanantly. Otherwise, they'll just cause more trouble then before."

"Have you ever killed?" Jenny asked, her metal fingers tapping nervously on the table. The rest were silent as Danny struggled to respond.

"Yeah. I have." He finally said, looking over at Jenny. "At the time, it was them or me. I first did it to escape the lab when the T-virus got loose. The doctors were first. Then the guards that charged into the room. As chaotic as it was, it was pretty easy to escape. Later on, I had to kill again when White Umbrella tried to capture me. There was no way I was going to let 'em drag me to another lab. No way in Hell." Danny sighed. "It isn't easy. The human mind has a way of punishing you for taking another person's life. Nightmares, guilt, flashbacks. Well, at least it does to those of us who have a conscience. That's what seperates us from them." He looked around at the others. "Be afraid when the killing no longer affects you. But I'll do it. Every time I have to."

The group had to reluctantly agree. There was no point in giving any quarter where none would be asked. They would do what needed to be done.

"Now, are there any other topics to take care of today?" Harry asked. Several hands were raised. "Okay, Dr. Wakeman, why don't you go first?"

"Thank you, Harry. First, the cell phones for the Weaselys, Neville, and Luna are ready. You can send them whenever you like. Now, this past week, I have been analyzing some of the technology we found preserved in your vault. I must say, I am very impressed. Much of it is a great deal more advanced than anything currently found on the mass market or anywhere else for that matter. It surpasses even most of what I have developed. I believe you should have it all patented and, if possible, manufactured. Why, the metalurgical patents alone will more than make it financially worth while."

Harry looked puzzled. "I already have far more than I can ever spend. While I appreciate your suggestion, I don't see why I should bother amassing more money."

"Harry, at the moment you are the last of the Potter bloodline. In the future, however, that may well change. It is your responsibility to make sure that each future Potter has something worthwhile to inherit. You must provide for their financial security just as they should for their own children. The second reason, is that we can singlehandedly expose the Wizarding World to things they have never had before. Television, DVDs, video games, refridgerators, computers, that will all function in magical areas. All sorts of items that will allow them to understand the muggle world a little better. We can shock them out of their complacency. Cause a sort of cultural revolution."

Harry perked up. Calling one of the guards over, he whispered in his ear for a few moments. After that, the guard rushed off, and returned several minutes later holding a box of legal files. Harry thanked the guard and began sifting through the papers and parchment. As he did so, he spoke again.

"Sorry. While I was going through this paperwork, I found that my parents owned several muggle corperations as well as many wizarding ones. Most of them are still working perfectly. One of them though...If I can just find the damned...AH! Here it is." He straightened up holding several sheets of paper. Looking closely at them, he continued. "This is the deed and stock reports for an electronics firm my parents began that has since gone out of business. With no input from my parents, they had little chance to grow and spread out. I still own all the rights and properties so there is no chance of competing claims. If I start pumping money into this project again, we can get it running and can provide new electronics to both wizards and muggles. We just need to find someone to head the project. All of us here will be too busy."

"How about Arthur Weasely?" Caleb asked. "You said that he loves anything to do with muggles. This will give him the chance to learn more than he would have before, as well as give him something to do. Griphook did tell us a few days ago that he was having trouble finding work."

"Yes." Harry said thoughtfully. "He's a proud man who doesn't like having his sons support him. He'll love it. Thanks Caleb. Now, we need to find someone willing to sell it to the Wizarding public."

"Hey! Maybe the Weasely Twins could." Trixie spoke up, gesturing with her goblet. "From what you told us, they'd be great. They founded a business that was doing really well untill the Ministry screwed everything up. And they trust you completely."

"Yeah." Spud said from where he sat next to Trixie. "Mention it to them and just see if you can keep them from doing it."

Harry smiled broadly. "Yes! Great idea Trixie. They would be perfect. I can't wait to see their faces when I spring this on them. And Molly! She'll have a coronary! Alright. Anything else, Doctor?"

"No, not at the moment." She replied, smiling.

"Okay, who else wanted to say something?" Looking at the raised hands. "Okay, Elyon. Why don't you go next?"

"I would like to suggest that we invite Griphook to attend our future meetings as a representative of the Goblin Nation." She said with a small smile. "We will constantly be going over things that they will find beneficial or can offer some aid on. Dr. Wakeman's suggestion, for example. They might like to invest in it. Or they could offer financial and business advice to Mr. Weasely when you offer him that job. Either way, they would appreciate being kept in the loop."

The others, having taken a liking to Griphook when they all met him, nodded and murmered in agreement.

Harry nodded as well. "That's a fantastic suggestion, Elyon. I'll bring it up with them as soon as I can. Anything else?"

She shook her head. "No. That will do it. Thanks Harry."

"Anytime, Elyon." He smiled. "Now, Danny. I know I saw your hand raised."

"Well," he said, frowning. "It has to do with my earlier suggestion on firearms training. See, I think we should use those Shinra guns in the vault. Last time we were down there, I did a bit of poking around. You have crates full of them down there, all in perfect condition. You see, legally, those things don't exist. At least right now. If you want to market some later, it'd be different. But for now we have an advantage. No one knows the unique characteristics of any of the types of guns there. They're completely untracable. The only real problem with that is ammunition. We don't have any that fits 'em. Not even any for Cerberus here." He held up the weapon he had chosen from the vault. "If we want to use those guns, we need ammo, and lots of it. Now, my dad's a gunsmith. He taught me everything I know about guns. He sometimes got requests for types of ammo that were either rarely used or just no longer made. If you can get me the necessary equipment, raw materials, and enough time, I'll be able make as much as we need."

Harry leaned back in his seat and frowned. "Why can't we order some specially made? I'd think there would be a lot of firms who could do it just as well for the right price."

"Yeah. That's true, but it also leaves a paper trail. Those people always keep records of their business dealings. If some Crime Scene Investigator finds shells or recovers bullets from dead Deatheaters and finds there's only one company that makes that special type of cartridge, we can kiss our source of new ammo goodbye. And any other company that recieves a request for the same type of custom ammo that was used in an apparent murder will turn us over to the Feds as soon as they can. We can't afford to have some FBI, ATF, or gods help us, Interpol agents snooping around us. They may not even find much, but that's attention we just don't need."

Harry winced as he thought about this. This was getting more complicated by the minute. "Alright. You've convinced me. Just get me a list of what you..."

"Just a moment Harry." Dr. Wakeman interjected. "I believe I can custom make the tools and machinery needed. Unless I'm mistaken, the sale of such things is also closely monitered by the various government agencies." Danny nodded in agreement. "I'll just ask Danny about what is needed."

"Okay, Doctor." Harry turned back to Danny. "There you have it. We'll use the guns from the vault. Any specific ones you think we should concentrate on?"

Danny shook his head. "Not yet. There's a lot to choose from. Handguns, submachine guns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, heavy machine guns. A lot of different types in each catagory. I'll have to try out a few of each and weigh their pros and cons. We all should learn to use the handguns, assault rifles, and submachine guns though. Those're the ones that'll be used the most. Several of us may want to try the sniper rifles or heavy weapons. We'll just have to see."

"Okay. Is that all?" At Danny's nod, Harry continued. "Who else had their hand raised? Okay, Hay Lin."

Hay Lin stopped bouncing in her seat. "I'd like to know when the materia will be given out and when we can practice with them."

"I'm sorry. It will be a while before we can use them." Harry responded ruefully. "We need a private, large enough area where we can be sure we won't destroy anything accidentilly. The island sounds good, though. We'll just have to wait a bit. Sorry, Hay Lin."

Hay Lin shrugged her acceptance of the explaination as she resumed her meal.

"Last up is Yumi." Harry said, turning to where Yumi sat next to Ulrich.

"While I was going through the books you gave me to read, I found that one of them was a translation of a journal written by Vincent Valentine." The group started muttering to each other in excitement. "It told all about his life. He wrote about how he first entered Shinra service, became a member of the Turks, was assigned to protect Lucrecia Crescent, and the experiments Hojo performed on him" Yumi took a moment to drink from her goblet. "Later on, it comes to the part where he met up with Avalanche and the whole story we know from there. At least untill a year after the battle with Kadaj and Sepheroth." Yumi then gave a detailed synopsis of the war against Deepground (go play Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus to find out).

Once she finished, the group started shaking their heads, leaning back in their seats, or speaking softly to each other. Harry started rubbing his forhead as he felt a headache developing.

"Damn! How could they possibly become so twisted that they would sacrifice so many innocent people that way? Many of them children, no less. Shinra really buggered that up proper." He groaned as he thought of all those poor people.

"Yeah." Danny said quietly. "Really makes me glad that Umbrella never got that powerfull." He looked appraisingly at Cerberus, as though trying to judge his worthiness to wield it.

"Well, at least Rufus Shinra tried to make up for the things he did." Gwen said as she stared thoughtfully into space. "Secretly funding the World Regenesis Organization was a smart move on his part. But, what happened to Vincent afterwords? He was immortal, right?"

"Was, yes." Yumi continued. "About fifty years after all his friends died, a lot of research had been done to find a way to reverse what Professor Hojo had done to him. With Chaos no longer inhabiting his body, it was fairly easy." Here Yumi paused and started poking at her food with her fork. When she looked up again, the others could see great sadness in her eyes. "Vincent never wanted to live forever. He was tired. All of the greatest friends he had ever known save Nanaki were gone. The Jenova cells were removed from the body of Lucrecia Crescent, the love of his life, and she dissolved into the lifestream. He had almost nothing left but his memories. He wanted to join them. The last entry was just after the procedure had been performed. He had started to age rapidly and only had a few days left. He gave his posessions to Cloud and Tifa's grandson and asked that he be buried with his friends."

The rest of the group were silent for several minutes.

"It is ironic." Lao Shi said solemnly. Everyone turned to regard him questioningly. "Voldemort greatly desires to live forever, not realizing or not caring what a curse it truly is. While the one who understood it best, never wanted it in the first place."

"It's a twisted world we live in." Cornelia commented. She was holding Caleb's hand tightly. "Psychopaths and secretive corperations step on the public daily and it's up to people like us to stop them."

Irma nodded. "What's really sick is the people who're to scared to fight back. I know most of them have families, but things just don't get better by sitting on your asses and hoping for a hero! They're lucky they have us this time, not that they're very gratefull right now. Next time, there might not be anyone willing to step up and do what needs to be done."

"Don't worry." Harry looked at each of them in turn. "They'll see eventually. Even if they don't, I have no intention of letting Voldemort destroy the muggle world. They don't deserve someone like him killing them all off. Well, we'd better get back to business. I think we should all go to the vault and find that gateway Aelita mentioned. If this island is as good as it sounds, we'll have the perfect place to train. Now, let's finish our meal here."

**Hogwarts Corridor-Friday Afternoon Six Days Later**

Ronald Dumbledore stomped angrily down the corridor, students parting like the proverbial Red Sea before him. No one wanted to incur the wrath of the newest member of the Dumbledore family. Since the adoption, Ron and Ginny had become even more selfish and conceited than anyone thought possible. They were practically untouchable and they knew it. Coming to the gargoyle at the entrance to the Headmaster's office, Ron paused only long enough to say the password.

"Twinkies." After the gargoyle stepped aside, he ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Reaching the top, he had barely raised his hand to knock when Prof. Dumbledore's voice called from within.

"Come in, Ronald." Ron paused only long enough to roll his eyes before opening the door. As he entered, he noticed Fawkes was still absent from his perch. He frowned. Was it possible for a phoenix to go dark, as Fawkes had apparently done? To think, the blasted bird actually might support Potter. Unthinkable. Ron's thoughts were interrupted by Prof. Dumbledore's voice again.

"Would you like a lemon drop?" Albus Dumbledore asked, a small smile finding it's way onto his tired face.

"No thank you, sir." What the Hell was it with his obsession with lemon drops, anyway? "We might have a problem."

Now frowning, Dumbledore looked more tired than ever. "Oh? What has you so angry, Ronald?"

"It's the D.A. With Potter and Granger gone, I should be the one in charge, but I don't think they can really be trusted. They keep comparing me with Potter, almost as though they still admire him. Chang's the worst of the bunch. She might still fancy him. I'm afraid they might try to help him."

"I see. If they still have some sympathy for him, it would be foolish to trust them completely. Though, you should not really expect to be accepted as the leader immediately. No one is given a position of leadership without earning it. I must thank you however, for the information. You can rest assured, I will not allow anyone within Hogwarts to assist Potter in any way."

Ron smiled, satisfied. "Thank you sir." '_This'll teach those maggots'_ he thought. "I'll keep an eye on them for you. Has there been any word on Potter?"

"No. No word at all. This worries me. I expected him to do something by now. Even in his crippled state, he can still cause a great deal of trouble. Those who helped him escape would be able to cause incredible amounts of chaos. They're planning something. Something very significant. I will let you know when anything happens."

As Ron turned to leave, Dumbledore held up a hand. "One moment, Ronald. Have you heard anything among the other students regarding the wherabouts of Draco Malfoy? I realize the Slytherins do not confide in those they consider outsiders, but rumers still should have circulated among the other students."

Ron shook his head. "No, not really. Just a lot of guessing. Some think he's already become a Deatheater. Others think his dad killed him. Most of the Slytherins aren't happy about it. I'm just glad I don't have to put up with the pasty little bastard."

"Alright, that will be all. Thank you again."

As the door closed behind Ron, Professor Dumbledore let out a tired sigh. He began to think over the short conversation. The D.A. To think, they had called it Dumbledore's Army. Now that they had been identified as a potential source of trouble, he would have all the teachers keep a close eye on them. The Marauder's Map would prove highly usefull in keeping them contained. Potter and Granger had, after all, taught them well. Would they try to assassinate him? What would happen if they let Potter into the school? What if they tried to recruit some of the innocent first-years?

The first-year students were already having a difficult time adjusting to the magical world. Why, many of them had already expressed concern over the new Political Education class the Ministry had insisted on adding to the Hogwarts curriculum. They felt very uncomfortable being told that the Ministry of Magic was always right, and to never, ever question authority.

Albus snorted. Fudge had some nerve. Turning this school into a propaganda factory. Too bad he was usefull where he was, keeping Magical Britain together while Albus hunted down those blasted horcruxes. Once that was done, he would be able to end the Dark Lord's miserable life as he should have all those years ago. Then he could concentrate on Potter, and, Merlin willing, put him down like a rabid dog. Finally, he would regain full controll of the school and try to reverse the damage Fudge's meddling had wrought.

**Riddle Manor**

Lucius Malfoy strode quickly through the silent halls of the mansion. This simply was not one of his better days. Almost nothing seemed to be going correctly. No one could find any sign of that blasted Potter brat. The freaks who had freed him hadn't made so much as a peep since they all dissapeared. The Dark Lord had been in a highly unpredictable mood ever since the day of the festival, when news had reached him about Potter's retrieval. He wasn't at all pleased with these new players in the game. He had taken to punishing those who brought him any unfavorable news at all. He almost had Nagini eat one poor fool.

And to top it off, Draco and Narcissa had gone missing only a day before Draco was supposed to go before the Dark Lord to recieve his Dark Mark. No one could find them. There was no sign of a struggle, no forced entry, the house elves had not sensed any foreign magical signatures anywhere on the property. As much as he hated to admit it, it looked as though they had decided to leave on their own. That meant they had decided to betray the Dark Lord. And everyone knew what that meant.

At least he had some pleasant news for his Lord today. Something that would solidify his position and reassure the Lord of his usefullness. As he came to the throne room, Lucius was stopped by the sentries posted at the doorway to ensure the Lord's privacy.

"Let me in." He said impatiently. "I have news for the Dark Lord." The guards glanced at each other for a moment, as though trying to guess how long he would last in there. After shrugging, one of them stepped aside and opened the door for him.

Malfoy paused just inside as he felt the air grow heavy with malice and anger. His master sat upon his throne a mere twenty feet away, his left hand rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he stared at the little metal box held in his right hand. Suddenly hesitant, he was wondering if he should wait for a more opportune moment when Voldemort snarled at him.

"Well Lucius? Either step up and say what you need to say, or get out before I kill you."

"O...of course master." Malfoy went to kneel at his master's feet. "I am pleased to report that the cryptography and linguistic firms have nearly finished translating the texts that I had brought to you. Another month's time will see them in your hands, five weeks ahead of what they originally predicted."

Voldemort visibly perked up at this news. "Ah, excellent. When you have the tomes, please, have the muggles _suitably rewarded_ for their hard work. Won't you?" He said, smirking.

Malfoy smiled maliciously. "Of course, my lord. They will not live to see the money I promised them. Oh, another thing, my lord. It seems that the translation went a bit faster because the muggles seem to believe the language to be some sort of "mother tongue" that every other language would be derived from. They were extremely excited about the discovery. They mentioned possibly publishing a paper regarding the matter. Would you like me to prevent this?"

"Yes. I do not want anyone but us to know anything about this peculiar language. It could very well prove usefull beyond merely what those ancient tomes can provide us."

"I understand my lord. Is there anything else I can do to serve you today?"

"Yes. Tell me, have you heard anything regarding Potter from our spies within the Ministry of Magic?"

"No, unfortunately not. Wherever Potter is, it is a very well hidden location. The most powerfull locating and scrying spells have had no results."

A small frown flitted across the Dark Lord's almost too fast for Malfoy to recognize it. "Very well then." Voldemort said. "You may leave."

As he stood and bowed low before his master, Malfoy satisfied. The Dark Lord had not punished him. He had in fact been gladdened by the news his loyal servent brought. _'Let's see that little idiot Wormtail do as well'_ he thought as he turned to leave.

**Gringotts Bank-Potter Secret Vault-Saturday Morning**

Harry was glad that everyone was here. They had all arrived prepped and ready for some serious exploring. Weapons were ready, emergency supplies had been handed out, and they all wore simple rugged clothing. But Harry was paying more attention to the gateway than to the others. He was more than a little nervious about this thing standing in front of him. It was a stone circle about ten feet high with glyphs running along the surface. Within the confines of the gateway, the air seemed to ripple and flow in a manner similar to the portals the Heart of Candracar created. In fact, it reminded him of this one show Dudley used to watch on the television. Now if he could just remember what it was.

"Wow" Hay Lin said, a wide grin threatening to split her face in two. "When do the Jaffa show up?"

"Sigh, no more Stargate marathons for you." Cornelia groaned.

Oh yeah, that's what it was. It looked like the Stargate from the show.

"Woah!!! That is seriously cool!" Roger shouted. He started bouncing around excitedly. A few seconds of that was all Ophelia could tolerate before she bopped him on the head and dragged him away from the gateway.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" She asked irritably.

"We're waiting for..." Began Will before a voice interrupted her.

"Oh good. You haven't left yet." Griphook gasped as he rush up to the group. He was wearing a simple, rugged leather tunic, boots, and pants that were fashioned out of what looked to be canvas. A sword resembling a Roman gladius was thrust through his brown leather belt. "I apologize for being late, however I was given a last minute message to pass on to you, Harry." Over the past few weeks, Griphook and Harry had forged a very strong friendship. Griphook, like Harry, was an orphan, his parents having passed on when he was only thirty-seven years old (early teens in goblin years). Now as an older, more mature goblin, he was able to provide Harry with the advice, support, and encouragement that Harry had lacked all those years with the Dursleys.

"Oh? What was it?" Harry asked, mildly worried.

"I was instructed to extend to you the thanks of Gringotts and the personal thanks of His Royal Majesty King Knarleetak for the invitation to share in all information and business opportunities. We wish to gladly accept your kind offer."

"That's great, Griphook! Er. I mean, will you extend my gratitude to His majesty and to the CEO of Gringotts International when you find an opportunity to do so? I would, but I have no means to do so at the moment." Harry struggled to remember that this was a response to a formal declaration of grattitude.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, I also wanted to thank you personally. Beyond the friendship I have enjoyed these past few weeks, my social standing amoung my peers has risen considerably. Now, I believe it's about time we got started, yes?"

"Right, Griphook." Harry motioned to the gateway. "Okay, we'll be going in pairs. Jenny and Ben will scout it out and return in two minutes. After that, we'll all go through and secure the area. Once we're sure it's safe, we'll start to move out together. I don't want anyone to seperate from the group. Too many chances of getting lost or having an accident. I also want you to remember those allies mentioned in the journal. There's no telling if they'll see us as hostile or not. Alright, let's go. Jenny, Ben. Your up."

Ben and Jenny stepped foward and through the gate. Ben had decided to change to XLR8 for the speed and evasiveness that form offered. Jenny had modified gatling gun ready to ues. They had been recently modified and upgraded into more compact versions of Barret's Missing Score gun-arm. As they went through, they were slightly surprised to find themselves in a beautifull forest clearing with the sun shining brightly through the branches of the incredibly tall trees. Flowers were blooming all around and the signs of a flourishing ecosystem were everywhere. They were standing on a stone dais about fifty feet across with the gateway behind them. A well maintained stone pathway led off through the trees. As Jenny jumped up on top of the portal, she saw that the forest was surrounded by tall mountains. Leaping down again, she took a moment to switch to infrared vision and look around at their surroundings as Ben waited.

"I'm not picking up anything. Just what looks like a few rabbits." She said. "Go have a quick look around."

Ben nodded, his Kineceleran face hidden by the protective face mask. "You got it!"

A half second later, he was off and running. Zipping this way and that, he covered the whole area and dashed out of Jenny's sight for a minute before returning. He skidded to a stop a second before he would have run into her

"Nothing around here. Doesn't look like anyone's been around." He said, changing back to his human form.

Jenny nodded. "Okay. Let's report back to Harry."

After passing through the gate again, they found the others waiting nerviously. Harry stepped up.

"Well? How does it look?"

"Pretty good." Jenny replied. "Neither of us found anything. Just a few rabbits and a path leading off into the woods."

Harry nodded. "Good. Okay, let's go. I want everyone to be carefull."

With that, they all began going through the gate two at a time. Once on the other side, Dr. Wakeman, Aelita, and Jeremy set their laptop computers up, hooked them together, and began typing at a furious pace. The others spread out and as ordered, secured the area. As they were doing so, Jake came along something odd. It wasn't something that could be seen, no. Otherwise, Jenny and Ben would have found it immediately. No, this was a smell. Jake's dragon senses picked it up easily.

"Hey, Gramps. Could ya come here for a minute?"

Lao Shi approached his grandson curiously. "Yes, what is it, Jake?"

Jake indicated the spot on the ground. "Take a whiff right here and tell me what it smells like."

The tiny old man kneeled over and sniffed at the ground. A surprised look ran across his face. Straightening up, he rubbed his goatee thoughtfully.

"Hmmm. It reminds me of the scent of a tiger. But there is something...odd about it. I cannot place it."

Jake nodded and turned around to look for Harry. "Hey! Harry! Could you come here?" He called to him.

Harry was speaking to Will, Danny, and Max, when he turned to see Jake waving at him as Lao Shi contemplated the ground at his feet. Gesturing the others to follow, he walked over to them.

"What is it?" he asked.

"We found this weird smell right here." He pointed to the spot. "We don't know what it is."

At this, Danny immediately knelt down and took a big whiff. (Genetically enhanced senses, remember?) Blinking, he took another. With a look of complete confusion, he stood back up and turned to Harry.

"Lion, tiger maybe. I don't know what the Hell it is. Some sorta' big cat's my guess."

Lao Shi replied as Jake nodded. "That was our thought as well. I must recomend caution Harry. It could very well prove to be a magically enhanced predator. We must keep on our guard."

Harry nodded in agreement. "Okay, Jake. You and Danny go tell the others about this. Tell everyone to be ready and to be carefull."

As they ran off, Harry turned to the others. "What do you think?" he asked, indicating the spot.

"I think we should look in to this." Max began. "A species of big cat surviving out here would mean the presence of prey to sustain them, dens where they could raise their young. What I would like to know, was if your family had them brought here on purpose. There's a lot to look in to."

Will nodded. "We might want to set aside some time to study them later on. But for now, I think we should get going."

Harry nodded. Just then, Aelita came up.

"Harry, Dr. Wakeman, Jeremy and I have been using our G.P.S.'s to find out exactly where we are but there seems to be a ward or something blocking us. We can't access any satilites at the moment."

"That's alright. I expected as much." He turned to find everyone waiting to go. Checking to see if Vigilante was secured properly across his back, he shouted. "Okay, let's move out!"

With that, they all started moving down the path. Jake in dragon form, Rose with her Huntstaff, and Ben as Wildmutt were ahead of the others as scouts. Jenny and Ulrich were each off to either side as guards with the rest of the group led by Harry between them. Danny and Caleb kept behind them as rear guards. As they went on and on, they began to notice that the trees were getting taller and taller. As they walked, the trip took on the mood of a pleasant hike. After about two hours, they stopped at a sight none of them expected. The trees around them had gone from the standard oak, elm, and ash to trees with an ethereal silvery color. So huge were they, that the criss-crossing boughs seemed to form a roof. The only light seemed to come directly from the trees themselves.

"No way!" Will gasped. She went over to gingerly stroke the side of one of the trees.

"Oh, you gotta be kiddin me!!" Danny grumbled.

Jeremy merely adjusted his glasses and said, "I would not have predicted this."

The rest of the group reacted with expressions of shock, delight, and surprise. Why? Simple. They found themselves standing in the Sleeping Forest, where Cloud had ridden to the City of the Ancients to try to free the children that Kadaj and his team had kidnapped. Where Aerith had been killed by Sepheroth and sent into the Lifestream by Cloud.

Suddenly, Jenny whipped around to stare off into the trees. "Oh crap! Don't look now, but I think we're surrounded."

Switching his cybereyes to infrared, Harry saw she was right. Large cat-like forms were silently incircling them.

"Shit! Every one, form a defensive circle. Non-combatants in the center. With any luck, they'll think twice and try their luck somewhere else."

Within seconds, a circle was formed as they braced for the attack. What weapons they possessed were readied as others powered up their attacks. The dim shapes of the cats slowly grew nearer before pausing. A few tense moments passed untill one of them started foward again. Harry and the others tensed as the figure slowly stepped out of the shadows, only to drop their respective weapons and jaws in shock at the sight before them.

The creature that now stood before them resembled a huge heavily muscled red lion. Rather than a mane of fur surrounding it's head, though, it had what appeared to be a mohawk running down it's neck to stop at the shoulder blades. Tribal tatoo-like scars adorned it's shoulders and flank. A tuft of brightly colored fur at the end of it's tail reminded Harry of a flickering flame as it twitched back and forth. It approached cautiously, ears flat against it's skull, it's gaze inquisitive. It looked almost exactly like Nanaki.

"This isn't possible" Harry said, confused. "I thought you were all extinct."

"Extinct? Hardly." It...no. He growled before pausing, his gaze centered on Harry. His voice had a slightly rough quality to it, though his pronunciation was precise. He sat down slowly as he stared straight at Harry, an almost disbelieving look on his face. "Y-you look just like-"

"My father" Harry finished, throwing his hands up in the air in exasperation. "I know. Everyone says the same bloody thing!" He was about to go on when the lion-creature spoke again.

"Your father? Then that means... Harry? Is that you?" His voice was suddenly hoarse.

Harry looked at him. The lion's eyes had a strangely pleading look.

"Yes, I'm Harry Potter. How do you know me?"

Tears gathered in the lion's eye. "Your parents brought you here to see us all about twice a month. We looked foward to seeing you every time. Then James and Lilly said that you all had to go into hiding for a while and we never saw any of you again." As he spoke, the other lions approached. They had all heard the conversation and wanted a closer look at Harry. "Why did they never return? Was it something to do with that Voldemort person they told us about?"

Harry sighed heavily. "Yes" he said quietly. "He murdered them."

Scarcely had the words left his mouth, when all the lions started talking at once. It took several minutes for them all to calm down. One of them, a female, stepped foward.

"How did this happen?" She asked, her voice husky with grief. "They should have been safe! James told us that Dumbledore had guaranteed your safety."

"Wait" the first one interrupted. "This is something the whole pride should hear. We'll lead you to the City of the Ancients, where most of us live. There, you can tell us everything. As well as introduce us to your...friends." His eyes narrowed slightly, suspicious of the others. "My name is Kaguro, son of Drexis and Liira.

With that, the lions spread out around the group as they were led away. It didn't take long for them to reach their destination. They entered a massive clearing where a distinct, seashell-like structure rose from the earth. Scattered around, were at least a hundred or more lions, young and old, either laying down, drinking from the pool, or talking to each other. As the group came into sight, each of the lions stopped whatever it was they were doing and clustered around them, talking excitedly as some of them recognized Harry's scent. This went on for several minutes.

"What is going on out here?" A voice cut through the cacophony. Suddenly the entire clearing was silent. Everyone turned to see a grizzled old lion exiting the building and slowly approach them. Immediately, all the other lions cleared a path between him and Harry's group. As he came closer, they saw that he was very old, his once powerfull muscles deteriorating with age. His formerly crimson fur was now mostly grey and his muzzle was completely white. His nostrils flared as he sniffed at the air in their direction. When he got closer, Harry and the others were surprised to see that his eyes were milky white. This venerable lion was apparently blind.

"Grandfather", Kaguro began with a smile. "We have guests. Harry Potter has finally returned and has brought friends."

The elderly lion cocked his head in the direction of his grandson's voice. "Oh my." he whispered, his voice clipped and cultured. He started sniffing again untill he had caught Harry's scent. His sightless eyes went wide and shed a few tears. "At last. We were so worried when your parents never returned Harry. Ah, but I am forgetting my manners in my old age. Forgive me. My name is Sanjiro. I am the former leader of this pride, having passed the position down to my son, Drexis. I wish to welcome you all to our home, the City of the Ancients."

At this point, another lion approached. He looked almost exactly like Kaguro except older. He was larger and his rippling muscles were more developed. He wore an elaborate headress of feathers and beads.

"Father" he addressed Sanjiro. "What is going on here? And who are these people? Only the members of the Potter clan were ever allowed to know we exist, let alone come here."

"Ah, Drexis. Apparently young Harry Potter has finally returned to us. As for his friends, I cannot say. But please, I know you are the leader now but I must advise no rash actions. Harry must have had a good reason for bringing them here. Let us listen to him."

"I understand, father." Drexis's tone to his father was at once deferential and loving. He turned towards Harry's group. "Welcome back, Harry. Please, won't you sit and tell us what has happened in your absence? We would all like to know why you and your parents never returned to us."

They were led into the widest part of the clearing and there, Harry told his life's story. From his parent's murder and his placement with the Dursleys (whose behavior ilicited snarls of rage from the pride), to his imprisonment and rescue, nothing was left out. At that point, Will took up the story, explaining the nature of Candracar, the Oracle, and the Guardians of the Veil. After that, each member of the group was introduced and their origins explained. Needless to say, this took several hours to do. It was almost lunchtime when they finally finished.

Old Sanjiro shook his head mournfully. "Such a tragedy. I am so sorry we were never able to help you when you needed it most Harry. And now Voldemort is seeking Jenova. I had never thought I would see this day in my lifetime." He turned to where his son sat. "You know what we must do, Drexis."

Drexis nodded as he looked around the clearing. "We will all begin training at once to ready ourselves for the war." He looked at Harry. "Long ago, your ancestors knew that a few pieces of Jenova remained hidden by Professor Hojo. Unfortunately, they were too well hidden, Cloud and the rest of Avalanche had no idea where they could be. They knew it was possible for someone to find them and cause who knows how much chaos. So, they carefully preserved as much information about it as possible. They also helped restore our species, the Leonines using the leftover cloning technology from Shinra Inc. Then, seven hundred years later, when The Great Cataclysm destroyed Cosmo Canyon, your family helped us relocate here, at great expense, I might add."

(Don't know what they were actually called, so I'm calling them Leonines).

"Oh." Harry said. "I wondered how your species had survived and gotten here. But, how did the Forgotten Forest survive? Wasn't it on a large continent? The same one the Northern Crater was on?"

"Yes" Sanjiro answered. "You see, The Great Cataclysm changed everything. It was an earthquake of immense proportions. The entire face of the world changed that day as continents were ripped asunder, reformed differently, and civilizations crumbled. A hundred years later, humanity was reduced back to a primative, barbarian-like existence. All except the Strife Clan, who had remained here with us. Later, when they returned to the world of men, they changed their family name to Potter in order to remain annonymous. They established contact with the newly formed Goblin Nation and decided to become part of the rapidly growing Wizarding World."

Harry stood and bowed deeply to Sanjiro and Drexis. "Thank you so much. I don't know how I can ever repay your kindness to my family, but I promise I will."

Sanjiro smiled. "There is no need Harry. As for the kindness to your family, you forget that we are part of the Potter Clan as well. We are all part of your family Harry. Always remember that. Well," he said with a sigh. "I believe that should do for the moment. We must set aside more time to talk later but for now... I think it would be best if we showed you something that will be of great value in this new war." He turned to his grandson. "Kaguro. I would like you to take Harry and his friends to the hanger while your father and I discuss a few matters."

Kaguro smiled widely. "Yes Grandfather" he said, chuckling at some private joke.

Harry and the others looked puzzled.

"Hanger?" Will asked. "What do you mean, hanger?"

At this, most of the leonines started laughing.

"You'll see" Drexis smiled, fully enjoying the moment. "Just follow my son and see for yourselves."

As they all went their seperate ways, Kaguro looked at Harry. "You're really going to enjoy this." he said turning to lead them off again. Before they got far, however, Kaguro was suddenly tackled by a much smaller ball of fur. As he was bowled over, Kaguro started laughing like mad. "Good job Kairi. You really got me that time!"

Harry and the others blinked when they saw that the small ball of fur was a much smaller, female leonine, hardly more than a cub really. She got up from where she had started playfully chewing on Kagouro's ear. "I did! Didn't I big brother?" She exclaimed, starting to jump around him as he got up again."

Kaguro glanced over at the others. "I would like you all to meet my little sister, Kairi. Kairi, this is Harry Potter and his friends."

Kairi looked up at them with wide, bright blue eyes. "Woah! Really?" Harry nodded. "WOW!" she shreaked girlishly as she began running circles around Harry untill he began to get dizzy. All the girls (with the exception of Ophelia and even she looked like she wanted to) squeeled and clustered around the cute little fur-ball as Caleb and Brad helped steady Harry. After a few minutes, they all settled down.

"Kairi," Kaguro began. "I was just taking our new friends to see the hanger. Would you like to come with us?"

"Ooooh! Can I?" she asked as she started spinning in circles excitedly. Kaguro let out a long suffering sigh as he casually put his forepaw down on her tail to stop her from making anyone else dizzy. "Yes, you may if you can calm down. Also, what's in the hanger is a surprise for Harry and his friends."

Kairi glanced at her brother in surprise. "You mean they don't know?" She started giggling when Kaguro nodded.

Now looking back at the others, Kaguro motioned them to follow him. He led them through the forest and across a small chasm with a river running at the bottom. After half an hour, (with Kairi bouncing around them the entire way) they finally stood facing a pair of massive metal double doors set into one of the mountains surrounding the forest. And when they said massive, they meant MASSIVE. They were at least three hundred feet across and just as high. Set into them at the bottom, was a much smaller door.

Kaguro looked back at the others. "I hope you're ready" he said, grinning as he led them to the small door.

He stood on his hind legs a moment to work the door's latch with his forepaw. The door opened smoothly, evidently having been maintained very well over the centuries. After they all went inside, Kaguro stepped off to the side of the door into the shadows. They heard his claws scrabbling on metal. After a moment, light flooded the room from lights set into the distant ceiling and along the walls. Collectively, their hearts stopped for a moment. Now, everything they had witnessed up to this point had been more or less within the realms of believability. This, though, was severely straining their ability to accept reality. Why? Simple.

Because they now stood in front of the airship Shera.

"Oh my God" Harry whispered. "How did this survive?"

"It was sealed away immediately after Cid's death" Kaguro replied. "No one wanted to see it rust away in some forgotten scrapyard. She was far to valuable. If not as a weapon, then as a symbol. Though, as far as we know, she's still fully functional."

Harry turned to look over at Trixie as she stared at the Shera. "Your the pilot, Trixie. Do you think you can fly her?"

"Just get me a manual and some sort of simulator and we'll be flyin' high in no time boy!" She responded as she rubbed her hands together eagerly.

Eagerly, they all ascended the gangway to the Shera's lower levels. From the engine room to the bridge, not a single area was overlooked. As the tour went on, they found themselves increasingly in awe of the sheer engineering genius it took to construct this magnificiant machine.After an hour, they found themselves standing in front of the door to the cargo bay, where the WRO troops had skydived from during the attack on Deepground controlled Midgar. Kaguro paused for a moment.

"Inside are a few more important things that your ancestors made sure to keep safe, Harry. I think you'll really enjoy this." He nodded at the door, inviting Harry to open it.

Thinking that nothing could surprise him anymore, Harry shrugged and swung the door open. The interior of the room was pitch black. Reaching within and groping along the wall next to the door, Harry found a light switch and flipped it on. As the lights came on, the first thing they saw was some sort of attack helicopter sitting in the middle of the room.

"What is this?" Rose asked. "Cloud and the others never used a helicopter before, did they?"

"I think it was one of Deepground's Dragonfly attack choppers." Yumi explained, thinking back to the journal she had read. "Vincent Valentine faced several of them."

"It'll still be usefull," Ulrich said as he studied it. "Never can tell when we'll need air support."

Roger, in the meantime, noticed something else on the opposite side of the Dragonfly. "Hey, what's that over there?"

They all went over to see a strange truck. The front end looked like a standard semi while the back was strangly reminiscent of an old camper trailor.

"Now that's a queer lorry" Harry muttered.

"It looks like one of the WRO Shadowfox trucks." Yumi said. "They were used in heavy numbers during the assault on Midgar."

"Very true." Kaguro said as he sat next to Harry, Kairi playing at his feet. "These two vehicles were too usefull to throw away. Just like the Shera and those over there in the corner." He pointed a paw at five dim shapes covered by tarps.

Harry led the others over to them. With only a moments hesitation, he grabbed one of the tarps and pulled. Everyone gasped. The shape that was revealed was one that had haunted his dreams ever since he had first witnessed the stories stored in the Heart of Candracar. It was colored a deep black that seemed to absorb all light that reached it. In fact, it was almost impossible to see it in the dim lights of the cargo bay. It's sleek form seemed to undulate and flow even while standing still. It was...

"Fenrir" Harry whispered, running his hands along the incredible motorcycle. Harry could scarcely believe his good luck. He had dreamed about getting a bike designed and built just like it. And now here it was. The original. He could already hear the wind blowing past his ears mixed with the roar of the engine. Feel the rumble of the bike as he sped down deserted back roads. Feel Will's arms tight around his waist as she held on with everything she had...

_'Where the hell did that come from'_ Harry thought, bringing his fantasies up short before they wandered into dangerous areas. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he turned to the other shapes, obviously other motorcycles. He motioned to the others to take the tarps off. When they did, the bikes ridden by Kadaj, Yazoo, and Loz were revealed. The final one took them a little while to recognize, untill, at last, Spud realized it was the motorcycle Cloud had ridden when Avalanche had escaped Shinra Corporate Headquarters.

"Woah!" Ben exclaimed. "This is just too cool."

Soon nearly everyone was babbling about how much fun they would soon have.

"Hold up." Danny said. "How do we know they still work? Even if they do, we still need the right kind of fuel."

Brad looked over at him. "Well, with Dr. Wakeman's equipment, Jeremy and Aelita's brains, and my mechanical know-how, we should have these things up and running in no time."

"Okay, I can get that," Danny replied. "I just think we should slow down a bit. No sense rushing these things. We could wind up makin' more 'n' a few mistakes."

Harry nodded. "That's right. I want to get on Fenrir as much as the rest of you want to fly and ride the rest of these. We just have to take it one day at a time." He smiled and patted Fenrir's rear fender. "One day at a time.

**Author's Note:** Damn! Once again, I want to apologize for finishing this chapter two months after my last one. Like I said before, a lot of problems cropped up. Sigh. Anyway, I wanted to thank those of you who bothered to review and to once again ask for your help. i have most of the costume ideas done, but I need more. I only got one response back and it was a good one. Dante's clothes from Devil May Cry 2. Should look good on Jake Long. Many thanks to PhOeNiXnr1 for the suggestion. Well, that's about it for me. I realy got to go. Thanks for reading, reviewing, and enjoying. Till next time, this is Uchiha ninja, logging out.


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